Pending disaster housing puzzlements

Two of the several interesting things about our new hurricane housing rent programs:

- Per the explanations cited here yesterday, and FEMA's transitional housing assistance page, there seem to be two Katrina rent payment programs: one run by FEMA, one run by HUD. It appears the promised initial $2,358 payments are to come from FEMA, but then it looks as though both HUD and FEMA may make later payments. Which leaves it not quite clear which governmental pocket the money will be coming out of as time passes.

- According to the same sources, and as highlighted in HUD's advice page for displaced households, the HUD KDHAP program will assist the members of each household, wherever they choose to settle, by paying up to 100% of the local HUD-determined Fair Market Rent (FMR). This is more generous than normal Sec. 8 vouchers -- it's paying whole rent amounts, not just subsidies -- but the incentives are interestingly different. In the normal Sec. 8 voucher program, of course, housing authorities are allowed to subsidize rents up to 110% of FMR, and higher if given permission, as a way of adjusting to local shortages of affordable housing. On the other hand, KDHAP requires households to pay out of pocket for any rent amount beyond 100% of local FMR. So KDHAP compensates less for local housing pressures than the Sec. 8 voucher program does. Which creates a pretty strong incentive for displaced households to settle in towns where there's less competition for housing.

Also...

We've previously linked to the HUD press release mentioning Deputy Secretary Roy Bernardi's congressional testimony, but it seems worth revisiting his Sep. 27 prepared text because it brings us several new explanations about federal multi-agency Katrina housing coordination. To begin with, this testimony explains that HUD's Hurricane Recovery and Response Center (HRRC), established at HUD headquarters under the leadership of Assistant Secretary Brian Montgomery, is "for internal inquiries only," and that its functions have included identifying vacant multifamily housing. It also brings us word of a new entity under Deputy Secretary Bernardi's own leadership:

The White House has also created a Hurricane Katrina Task Force on Housing and Relocation Policy to lead the housing efforts through all stages, from shelters to long-term housing. I am the chair of this interagency effort that is composed of a total of 12 agencies, including USDA, VA, DOD, and SBA.

Still unclear: whether this "task force on housing and relocation policy" is a previously unannounced entity, or whether it's the same group of officials who appear in this Aug. 31 White House photo captioned with the more generic label of "Task Force on Hurricane Katrina Recovery." The phrase "housing and relocation policy" doesn't produce relevant results on the White House Web site.

Then then there's a little discussion of the Joint Housing Solutions Center in Baton Rouge, which this space tried to figure out a couple of weekends ago. The testimony states:

We have also joined with FEMA to establish the Joint Housing Solutions Center, located in Baton Rouge. The Joint Housing Solutions Center is the central location for inter-agency housing coordination and planning. The Department's lead representative at the center is Hank Williams who serves as our Deputy Assistant Secretary for Multifamily Housing.

Incidentally, Mr. Williams has been referred to as co-chair of the Joint Housing Solutions Center, but after repeated inquiries we haven't yet been able to find out who is sharing this leadership with him. However, now that we're past the first crisis, does the Joint Housing Solutions Center perhaps become less important, while this White House entity steps up as the main coordinating authority for the Gulf Coast housing recovery...?

Readers who have interpretations or information to share, please do use the comments section below.