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Washington -- Over 10,000 Mississippians have signed up for federal grants to rebuild their homes that were destroyed or damaged by Hurricane Katrina last August and the first checks may be cut in June.
After a long process, Mississippi finally has access to $3.4 billion in Community Development Block Grants that Congress appropriated in December.
"We have fully executed a grant agreement with Mississippi," a Department of Housing and Urban Development spokesman said.
The Mississippi Development Authority has been taking applications since April 17 and the agency would like to award the first Katrina homeowner grants of up to $150,000 next month.
Meanwhile, the vast majority of lenders and servicers in Mississippi have signed up to participate in the program and helped their borrowers in executing the assistance agreements.
However, industry groups are concerned that the homeowners receiving the grants are under no obligation to rebuild their homes. And lenders don't want to be left with damaged collateral.
"We understand that some would prefer to have a escrow-type system," MDA spokesman Scott Hamilton said.
Source: HighBeam Research, Hurricane Grant Program in MS Concerns Servicers.