Legislators Back Funds For Renters, Fishermen
Advocate (excerpt)

Lawmakers agreed Wednesday to spend nearly $100 million to help renters and commercial fishermen.

The biggest piece of the package is a $75 million proposal to turn renters into homeowners by loaning them money to buy hurricane-damaged houses.

Robin Keegan, deputy director of the Louisiana Recovery Authority, said the new program targets property left blighted by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. “(We want) to help renters become homeowners,” she said. Called the “Soft Second Loan Program,” first-time homebuyers would be able to get a manageable mortgage payment by using two loans to buy a blighted property.