Some Hurricane Katrina victims say their private insurance settlements for damaged homes are being held up by delays in a separate state grant program.

The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune reported Wednesday that hundreds of New Orleans homeowners due insurance settlements can't receive their money because they had also applied for help from the Road Home Program, which dispenses state grants of up to $150,000 for Katrina victims.

The problem, the newspaper said, is that Road Home applications are backlogged and state officials won't allow private insurance settlements to paid out until they are satisfied homeowners aren't duplicating benefits by using Road Home. This has led to high levels of exasperation among homeowners, insurers and their attorneys.

The problem is there's no time limit for Road Home to respond to the request, Soren Gisleson, head of the insurance section of the Louisiana Association for Justice, told The Times-Picayune. It's killing the homeowners. It's delaying all settlement checks.

State officials say they're required by law to check all of the information on the Road Home grant applications in an effort to spot homeowners trying to hide assets in order to avoid having their grants reduced.

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