POST - SANDY CLAW-BACK LITIGATION

Newsday reports today the settlement of an action against the Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor in a Sandy claw-back action.

The Housing Trust Fund Corp. is a state agency that administers the New York Rising Housing Recovery Program. According to Newsday, "more than 140 the Housing Trust Fund filed in 2018, according to electronic court filings. Most of those cases — 137 — were filed in Long Island courts, with 110 in Nassau County and 27 in Suffolk County. In many of those cases the state agency is seeking the return of New York Rising grant funds based on allegations that homeowners either failed to file all the required paperwork or that they received duplicate benefits from insurance or other disaster relief programs, the complaints show."

According to Newsday, the Town Supervisor "was notified in 2017 that he could appeal the program’s decision to claw back the grant money, but he did not...." For a case that discusses the proper procedures for appealing claw-back determinations and the importance of timely filings with agency appeals, see MATTER OF COMAN v. HOUSING TRUST FUND CORP., 2018 NY Slip Op 31896 - NY: Supreme Court 2018