LCO Leaders Await Overdue Report on Homeowner Assistance Fund as Residents Raise Concerns

By Joe Morey

News Editor

LCO Secretary Treasurer Michelle Beaudin says the Lac Courte Oreilles Tribal Governing Board is still waiting for a comprehensive update on the Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF), a pandemic-era program approved by the TGB in October 2021 to help LCO homeowners avoid foreclosure, utility shutoffs, and displacement.

Beaudin said the board met in August with the Tribe’s ARPA/HAF team and requested detailed status reports on completed projects and homeowner satisfaction.

“We are currently awaiting an update on the Homeowner Assistance Program (HAF). In addition to learning how many homeowner projects have been completed, we’re also interested in whether the work was done to the satisfaction of the homeowners,” Beaudin said. “I’ve heard from several community members who experienced issues with contractors or the quality of work provided. However, during a meeting with the HAF team, they stated they had not received any complaints. To ensure concerns are heard, I issued a notice encouraging anyone with complaints or questions about their projects to contact the HAF department directly. As of today, we have not received the requested reports, but I have followed up with an email and am currently waiting for a response.”

On the Tribe’s Facebook page, Beaudin asked anyone with issues to contact program leads Brian Bisonette or Booki Wielgot directly. In response, one community member argued the burden shouldn’t be on homeowners to compile complaints and called for a formal report from the ARPA/HAF team; another asked where to file concerns when “the work hasn’t even started yet.”

Another comment posted by a tribal member thanked the HAF team for an outstanding job they did on their home.

When the TGB launched HAF in 2021, it paired $2.1 million from the U.S. Treasury’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) with $2.1 million in tribal funds for a total $4.2 million program. Demand quickly exceeded expectations: 294 homes ultimately applied, far above early estimates. Wielgot has said many projects came in under the $30,000 per-home allocation. Still, Bisonette noted that if every approved home had used the full allocation, the total would have reached $8.82 million, more than double the original fund.

Eligibility required that the applicant be an LCO Tribal member living in the home and that the home be within LCO reservation boundaries. Allowable uses included mortgage assistance, delinquent property taxes, and home repairs/renovations, consistent with ARPA’s intent to prevent mortgage delinquencies and defaults, foreclosures, loss of utilities or home energy services, and displacement due to COVID-related hardship after January 21, 2020.

Nationally, the U.S. Treasury reports HAF programs have assisted hundreds of thousands of homeowners since 2021. Treasury guidance says the HAF performance period runs through September 30, 2026, with obligations due by that date and expenditures completed by January 28, 2027. (Programs can close earlier if funds are exhausted.)

LCO adopted a HAF ordinance and implementation framework that, among other provisions, outlines planning, public input, and record-keeping requirements specific to HAF files.

The program’s last publicly shared update to LCO News was in September 2022, despite multiple requests over the past three years for current information. Beaudin said the TGB has again asked for a full accounting—how many projects are done, how much was spent per project, remaining balances, and any outstanding contractor or quality-control issues—and will follow up until the report is delivered.

In the meantime, homeowners with unresolved issues, or projects that haven’t begun, are encouraged to document their concerns and contact the HAF team. Beaudin emphasized that the board wants to ensure any problems are identified and corrected: “We want this program to meet its purpose and deliver quality outcomes for our homeowners.”