You're Approved for Disappointment: SBA cancelled Katrina loans improperly and w/o notice

[Maddy McCall]

From Your Right Hand Thief:

You're approved for disappointment

The Small Business Administration, which runs the federal government’s largest program to help disaster victims rebuild their houses, improperly canceled thousands of loans it had promised homeowners along the Gulf Coast after the 2005 hurricanes, a government audit has found.

The agency canceled nearly 8,000 loans without calling the borrowers or mailing them a notice, according to the audit by the agency’s inspector general.

In the months after the storm, the SBA helped Louisiana by denying 90% of small business loan applications. Then, two SBA advisors lied to me about a tax law matter, and recommended that I suspend my application. Then the Bushies wanted the SBA to raise interest rates on disaster loans, and now an audit reveals that the SBA improperly cancelled thousands of loans.

Heckuva job, guys. Heckuva job.

http://righthandthief.blogspot.com/


The Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, which is examining problems with the agency’s disaster loan program, is planning a hearing on the audit on Wednesday.

“We all wanted to see the loans processed and disbursed more quickly and the red tape removed,” said Senator John Kerry, the Massachusetts Democrat who is chairman of the committee. “Unfortunately, even with good intentions, some disaster victims are still being left behind, and that’s not acceptable.”

The audit is the latest in a series of problems for the troubled agency, which was widely criticized for its slow response to Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma. Earlier audits found that poor planning, low levels of staffing and problems with a new computer system had led to a backlog of hundreds of thousands of loan applications.

Steven C. Preston, the agency’s administrator, made fixing the disaster loans program his top priority when he took office last July.

But the audit found that agency employees might have cut corners to reduce the backlog. In many cases employees made only one call and sent no letters, according to the report. Because of problems with the agency’s computer system, its records indicated that these borrowers had requested that their loans be canceled.

More: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/25/washington/25orleans.html?_r=3&adxnnl=0&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1185339445-DETXCY0922rg7S5l5xZbyA&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

[KamaAina]

1. You read Oyster too?

he's the only blogger I know of who has two blogger names...

Did you happen to catch any of his posts on Sen. "Vitty Cent" and Diapergate? :rofl:

[Maddy McCall]

3. Holy shit!!!

I owe you some Zatarains!! I went on vacation and forgot all about it.

PMing you now!

Yeah, I love these local blogs. Most of the gossip there turns out to be true. Did you read about the radio show with Vitter?

Also, the Times Pic's error correction, in which Vitter corrected their reportage by saying that he had not been involved in certain rumors, but made it clear that some rumors about NOLA brothels might be true.

I love TRHT.

:hi:

[IChing]

2. It just gets worse and worse with this Cabal doesn't it?

kick

[BlooInBloo]

4. Well duh. You can't white-ify the place by giving loans to black folks.

[bobbolink]

5. Disappointment??? I hope more suicides don't come out of this!

:cry: