Russ Zimmer

@RussZimmer

ASBURY PARK – Two years after superstorm Sandy severely damaged or destroyed 40,500 primary residences in New Jersey, the state's primary rebuilding program has managed to complete only 113 homes, according to figures provided by the state.

Only six homes statewide have been completely rebuilt and elevated using the Reconstruction, Rehabilitation, Elevation and Mitigation (RREM) program's most hands-off option for homeowners: Pathway C, in which the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs assigned pre-approved general contractors, rather than the grant recipients choosing their own builders or seeking reimbursement for work done before they applied.

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DCA spokeswoman Lisa Ryan cautioned that those numbers did not reflect reality because some homes — Ryan didn't say how many — are finished in a practical sense but not officially closed out of the program.

"The reason more RREM grant recipients are not counted as 'completed' in our data tracking system is because they have not finished elevating their home and, in many cases, have until October 29, 2016, to elevate," she said.

As of October 27, 8,804 homeowners have been accepted into the program, meaning that only about 1 percent of those who successfully applied ahead of the RREM deadline 14 months ago are in residences that are completed to occupancy, under the state's own data definition.

An additional 2,200 homeowners are on the waiting list. More than 4,100 of those accepted applicants have signed grant awards, representing $530 million in assistance. RREM provides up to $150,000 for the reconstruction and elevation of qualifying homes.

Complaints have swirled around RREM since its debut half a year after Sandy. Those accepted into the program can never seem to get answers to simple, fundamental questions — What will the cost of the project be? When will it begin? — and it turned out that many of those rejected from RREM perhaps shouldn't have been.

Lisa Stevens, of Little Egg Harbor, said the last straw for her in Pathway C was when her DCA-designated housing adviser told her she should take out a personal loan for what she believed could be done with grant money alone.

"After talking to many builders and modular companies and getting prices, I learned that I could basically get what I needed completed within the cost of my grants (RREM and others)," she said.

She turned in the paperwork last week to transfer to Pathway B, in which she will choose who does the work.

A total of 29 RREM homes in Monmouth County have been completed to occupancy, according to an analysis of DCA data shared last week at the monthly meeting of the Monmouth County Long Term Recovery Group. Just two of those homes went through Pathway C. No data were immediately available for Ocean County.

In-depth:Two years after Sandy

According to the Monmouth County recovery group's RREM analysis:

•2,050 homeowners in Monmouth County have received preliminary approval.

•1,091 of those homeowners have signed grant award agreements, committing $132.7 million to construction projects in the county.

•514 homeowners in the county are on the RREM waiting list.

•778 homeowners in the county opted to select their own builder — nine of those projects have been completed.

•276 homeowners went with a RREM-assigned builder — two of those are finished.

•466 homes are "under construction" now.

The sheer number of homeowners who are at the beginning or in the middle of the RREM process is something to keep an eye on, said Carlos Rodriguez, executive director of the FoodBank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties and vice president of the recovery group. County recovery groups are umbrella organizations existing to fill unmet needs and connect disaster survivors to available resources.

"We're excited about that because it means we're a step closer to getting people home, but we're also anxious about that because our resources are going to be called upon very quickly," he said.

County recovery groups, and the charitable organizations they partner with, find many Sandy-affected homeowners are tapped out financially and need some help to make it through the RREM process.

"They might need some construction help ... or they might need rental assistance, or a place to stay now that they are actually going to have to move out of their house for a few months," Rodriguez said.

Russ Zimmer: 732-557-5748, razimmer@app.com

How to help

To donate time or money to the Monmouth County Long Term Recovery Group, visit hub.mcltrg.org/donate/, call 848-206-2554 or email comm@mcltrg.org.

For the Ocean County Long Term Recovery Group, visit www.oceancountyltrg.org/donate/, call 732-569-3484 or email info@OceanCountyLTRG.org.