NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – The state’s property insurance crisis threatens the foreclosure of more than 100 New Orleans families living in Habitat for Humanity homes.

The non-profit is asking the city council for a large chunk of money to help keep struggling homeowners from ending up on the streets.

Habitat for Humanity is now meeting with New Orleans City Councilmembers individually while continuing to seek grants and philanthropic work. However, it said this impacts its ability to build homes for future families.

“We’re getting pinched right now,” George Ingmire said.

What happens when there are no more pennies to pinch?

“This is pretty big of a problem,” George Ingmire said.

George Ingmire said no one’s unscathed by the state’s high property insurance rates; some are just hit harder than others.

His note has doubled since he moved into his Habitat for Humanity home in 2007, breaking his budget, but he has neighbors struggling more than he is.

“It’s really horrible. There are a lot of people that live in the musicians that are elders who live on fixed incomes,” Ingmire said.

“There’s no way you can suddenly go out and get a better job or be retrained for a different job,” Marguerite Oestreicher, Executive Director for New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity.

Marguerite Oestreicher, executive director for the New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity, said she’s seen premiums on 1,100 square foot homes go from $1000 a year to $2,500 and as high as $6,500.

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She went before the New Orleans City Council’s Quality of Life Committee this week requesting about $2 million dollars to help families falling into foreclosure.

“Many of them are at risk of becoming homeless and then they will be dependent on different kinds of city services,” Oestreicher said.

She said 15 homes in the early stages of foreclosure, close to 180 families are foreclosure eligible., and 50 to 75 households are right behind them, hanging on by a thread.

“Our new insurance commissioner is working hard. He’s trying to put in new policies and programs to try and attract more companies to the state… but that is a long-term solution,” Oestreicher said.

“We’re going to continue to have hurricanes and tornadoes and fires and all that. Insurance companies are losing money, so I don’t really know what the solution,” Ingmire said.

About $900,000 of the money Habitat for Humanity is requesting would help homeowners facing foreclosure catch up. The remaining balance would help with case management.

Oestreicher said many of these people are hardworking and even close to owning their homes outright; however, the pandemic, Hurricane Ida, name-storm deductibles and a laundry list of other expenses took a toll.

“They are literally doing without medications, doctors’ visits, changing their eating habits,” Oestreicher said.

In a statement, Lesli Harris, New Orleans city councilmember said, “I’ve been working on housing issues since I took office, with the goal of ensuring all of our residents have access to safe, stable housing. Habitat has identified over 325 families who are on the verge of falling into homelessness and losing their homes, after investing sweat equity and thousands of dollars over the years. If the City can step in to prevent this at a cost of approximately $6,000 per household, we do need to work to find the money. More broadly, this highlights exactly why we need to pass my charter amendment to annually fund the Affordable Housing Trust Fund from the City’s general fund. That will allow us the flexibility to offer money where our residents need it most.”

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