# Plain Language Summary: Preventing Disaster Revictimization Act

When disasters strike, FEMA provides emergency assistance to help people recover. But sometimes people receive money they weren't supposed to get—either because FEMA made a mistake or because the person's situation changed. Currently, FEMA can demand that people pay back this money, even when the error was entirely FEMA's fault. This bill changes that by requiring FEMA to forgive debts when the agency itself made the mistake in distributing the assistance.

Here's what this means in practical terms: If you received disaster relief money and FEMA later realizes they gave you too much because of their own error, you won't have to repay it. The bill treats these situations as hardship cases automatically. Additionally, if you're already involved in a legal dispute or claim about the assistance you received, FEMA must waive the debt rather than pursue you for repayment. This protects people who are already struggling from being hit with additional financial demands on top of their disaster recovery challenges.

The bill also adds accountability measures. FEMA must report to Congress about how it makes decisions when distributing disaster assistance and explain what steps it's taking to reduce errors in the first place. If FEMA's error rate remains high, the agency has to tell Congress what it plans to do about it. The goal is to prevent people who've already suffered through a disaster from being "revictimized" by having to repay money that FEMA incorrectly gave them, while also pushing the agency to improve its processes so these mistakes happen less often.

Preventing Disaster Revictimization Act

Graves, Sam

Preventing Disaster Revictimization Act This bill requires the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to waive certain debts owed to the United States related to disaster assistance provided to an individual or household. Specifically, FEMA must waive a debt owed to the United States related to disaster assistance provided to an individual or household if such assistance (1) was distributed based on an error by FEMA and such debt is construed as a hardship, and (2) is subject to a claim or legal action. FEMA must report to Congress on (1) actions that it will take to reduce the error rate, and (2) the internal processes used to make decisions regarding the distribution of federal disaster assistance to individuals and households and any changes made to such processes.