Two months later... still no end in sight.
It's been a rough 2 months. We're living at J's uncles house about 45 minutes away from home. My commute in the morning is to take my daughter to my mom's house so she can be picked up by the bus and then I'm off to daycare to drop off the other daughter and then to work. This is about 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours on a bad day. Yes, traffic sucks and my commute "home" (aka J's uncles) is worse. What hurts the most is that my kids are tired of it, they want to go home but I can't give them that. We can't go home. Oh and the kids have been sick, I've been sick, the washer and dryer here need to be replaced, there's no plugs with a ground because everything is outdated and I couldn't take a real shower here until last week. BTW, add in a flat tire, 2 required oil changes, a wedding out of town, family in the hospital, Thanksgiving, Christmas and I'm about to go insane!
I laugh a lot at the ridiculousness of it all. People at work, home, etc. approach me to ask how we're doing. I want to tell them things are okay and they're moving along but unfortunately they are not. Not even close. Sometimes I actually say "we're hanging in there", sometimes I vent and tell them the truth and they do anything and everything to get out of the conversation. It's difficult for people to understand, and they're busy... they were only trying to be nice and ask how I was doing... they didn't really want to know the truth. They want to watch their Sandy Relief concert on TV and donate to the Red Cross and hope for the best.
What I can say is that I've learned a lot so far... and can sum it up in a few words "if you do things the right way, it doesn't mean things will go right". Or maybe, "Don't hold your breath" is more appropriate... I don't know, you decide for yourself... read below and let me know a good way to summarize what I've learned.
What I've learned...
- If you have flood insurance, FEMA does not help you (even if you have National Flood Insurance administered by FEMA). Don't ask people if FEMA is helping them! Please, it's adding insult to injury. Oh, and every time FEMA tweets about how they're helping people, a fairy loses it's wings. (shout out to my Liv for that one)
- The SBA loan that everyone is talking about is just an advance loan to cover what insurance will give you. It is not in addition to what you will get from insurance. It's actually a hilarious concept... federally administered flood insurance can't get their act together to get you the money that they owe you so they offer up another branch of government to give you a loan for that money and they charge you interest on said loan. Don't waste your time... we wasted days speaking with people, trying to fill out paperwork only to be told the real truth.
- Oil damage will be "cleaned" by insurance company even though "cleaning" it will not leave the home safe to live in. Yes, they do not care and they will not be back to help you in 2-3 years when the fumes from the oil they left in your foundation are seeping into your home threatening your family's health.
- Flood insurance will provide an adjustment with a check at their leisure. 2 months and counting, we have no idea what we'll get from them and when. Oh, and that advance check they promised - don't hold your breath.
- Flood insurance will not replace items. They will give you money for the depreciated value of items. You have to figure out how to find difference somewhere (your own pockets, a 401k loan, a personal loan, credit cards, a home equity loan - see #7, what ever.) Oh, only bottom cabinets are covered. (LOL) I've heard this so many times I want to puke. Yea, yea, yea... flood insurance doesn't care about the value of your home. They're not going to replace your entire kitchen even though the entire kitchen was damaged. They will work to see what they can do to make your home liveable. You have to deal with the home value issues later.
- Mortgage companies stating that they are there to help are only doing it for publicity. They are not there to help, they waste your time and tell you they cannot help until the federal government releases loan options over the next few months. "Come back to talk to us on January 28th and don't forget to pay your mortgage as that hiatus we gave you... no that won't last and you will have to pay back all your missed payments in one or we'll ding your pretty little credit."
- You cannot take out a Home Equity loan if you do not have equity in your home. Of course your home value has gone down due to the storm. Why would you think that your mortgage company would help in this situation? They do not care that you are trying to save an asset that they hold a lean on. They'd rather you go belly up and then there are "programs" they can offer you. Oh, and if you flip out on them in their trailer (where they've been sitting for 2 months "helping victims") it doesn't actually help the situation... but it doesn't make it any worse because they're powerless anyway.... so maybe flip out just to make yourself feel better. Yea... that's what I recommend. :)
- If you need rental assistance from FEMA (because you're paying a mortgage and rent at the same time and can't go back to your home), you'll have to call them multiple times and find the right person to speak to as each person has a different way of handling that situation. Oh, if you want to live in a one-room hotel with your husband and two kids, then you can do that... go ahead, find a hotel and FEMA will reimburse you. (Insert "Don't hold your breath" here.)
- Flood insurance does not cover relocation or storage costs. Homeowners insurance does, but you are out of your home due to a flood so they don't want to hear from you.
- If you do receive a check from any insurance company it will be made out to you and your mortgage company. Good luck getting the money. Mortgage companies like to "escrow" the money until they see that there was work done on the house. So... let me get this straight, you need money to start work, insurance gives you money, mortgage company takes money and holds it in escrow, you have no money to start work but the only way to get money is to start work.... wait a minute... do I see a catch-22 here? Anyone? Anyone? (read last two words in monotone voice).
- If you want to try to raise your home and increase the security and value with renovations, you will have to find a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow because that's the only way you'll be able to find the funds... Your good credit doesn't mean squat and the $30,000 that FEMA is supposed to be offering to raise your home... that comes after you pay an architect $6,000 to do a drawing, wait for an inspection and in the end, that $30k actually comes out of the total amount you could get back from insurance. BTW, to raise your home on Long Island, the cost ranges from $80,000 - $140,000. There is a rumor that says if your house is flooded more than once in 10 years, FEMA will give you a grant to raise your home. BAH! Not on Long Island with these home prices! Yea, the Katrina homes with values that range from $30k - $120k, sure they'll raise those and give you a few bucks... but not the $400k - $1M homes that were hit by Sandy. That's too damn expensive.... the feds would rather restore our beaches. Last comment on this one... if your house floods 3-4 times in two months but you didn't fix the damage from the previous floods, it's not a new claim and it won't help you get your home raised (good try though!).
- If you do the right thing and report an oil spill to the DEC, it will cost you 10's of thousands of dollars to clean it up (on your own dime) and yes, no one will want that job... they'll keep pushing you off to the next guy. Oh, and you may even get a fake letter sent to you stating you will be fined $25,000 per day that you don't clean up the mess. Even better, when you get that letter, please read it while sitting in your car in your oil ridden driveway, outside your oil ridden home that you are doing everything possible to figure out how to pay for the clean up. Please do that because you won't get the effect unless your engulfed in that beautiful environment while reading something that looks like an official letter.
- If you are displaced and attempting to find something normal in another county that you do not pay taxes in, do not expect to be allowed to enter the county or town facilities (say for instance an indoor swimming pool so you can train for a triathlon). They do not want your kind there. There is nothing they can do to help you and by the way... why are you calling them and wasting their time?
- No one with a job, insurance and good credit will see any of the "Sandy Relief" funds that are pouring in. Don't hold your breath... just watch the damn concert and be happy about it.
- The Red Cross stops by your home every day. Be there to pick up food rations, cleaning supplies, diapers and such. Did I mention that you need to be there? Oh, you can't be there because you work? Tough luck! Go sit in your car, in your oil ridden driveway outside of your oil ridden house and wait for that darn truck to come by with supplies you do not need... because that's the only help you're gonna get! Wait? You want a loan? No... fed doesn't do loans, they only give hand outs... you do-gooder you... trying to be all "I'll pay it back, I don't want a hand out"! Hahahaha. You make me laugh.
- Living without a printer, internet access or TV SUCKS!... oh, and I miss my pizza cutter... cutting pizza with a knife sucks too... have you seen my socks? Are they in storage? And that 3D awesome 55" TV you bought and saved in the storm... it doesn't work without the cables that are in the very back of the POD behind all your other crap. Good luck getting them. The TV is better being a bulletin board anyway. Where else would we hang all of Liv's drawings? Do you remember the time you used to do laundry at the laundromat? Do you remember that at that time you had all the time in the world because you were single and your job was close and you had no kids? Yea... I remember that being easy too.
- Everyone else would have done something better to prevent what happened to your home. They know better than you... you stupid person who lives by the water! Why wouldn't you just move? What the heck is wrong with you? I know that all the smart people live in the center of the island. You must be dumb.
In the words of Arnold "I'll be back..."
-s
Can we do anything to help you out?
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