After court proceedings exposed a potentially widespread pattern of malfeasance, Brown ordered last November that insurance carriers and engineering companies in all Sandy lawsuits provide property owners with copies of all reports on their homes and businesses, including any drafts and photographs.

Four months later, FEMA announced that it would reopen all Sandy claims for review. Mostyn has reportedly said he believes that as many as 10,000 property owners may have received faulty insurance reports in Sandy’s wake. Property owners must refile their claims to have them reevaluated.

A FEMA official could not be contacted for comment, despite several calls.
U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, Democrats from New York, and Sens. Bob Menendez and Cory Booker, Democrats from New Jersey, negotiated with FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate to reopen the Sandy cases.

“FEMA acknowledged its failure to oversee a flood insurance program that cheated Superstorm Sandy victims out of much-needed funding to rebuild their homes and get their lives back on track,” Schumer said on March 11, when the re-evaluation plan was announced.

What’s next?
August Matteis, of Weisbrod Matteis & Copley PLLC, a national litigation firm based in Washington, D.C., said the review process is “a great opportunity for people who feel they were underpaid.”

He noted, however, that FEMA will not “make your case for you.” Enter the attorneys such as Matteis.

“My strong belief,” he said, “is we’re going to find that a lot of people should have gotten more than they got.”

Matteis said his firm would send its own adjuster to evaluate properties and review original reports to determine whether owners received adequate compensation for damage, and to file required paperwork to have cases re-evaluated.