Billy Smith, Plaintiff In Class Action Against FEMA

Plaintiff Billy Smith was a resident of Orleans Parish when Hurricane Katrina struck and destroyed his home. He rented a room in a building where six other men also lived and shared a phone number. On September 2, 2005, Mr. Smith applied with FEMA for Temporary Housing Assistance. The FEMA worker told him that his application would be frozen because someone else had applied for benefits with the same phone number. Within the week, Mr. Smith called FEMA again to check the status of his application and was accused of making multiple applications. At about the end of September, Mr. Smith received a packet of information from FEMA, which stated that he needed to fill out an SBA loan to receive FEMA benefits, which he submitted the next day. Mr. Smith has since been told by FEMA that his application is still “pending.” He is currently living at the Red Cross Shelter in Baker, Louisiana.

(From Part III of the Complaint.)