“Disaster Fraud Prevention by Exclusion: Property, Homeownership, and Individual Housing Repair Aid in Puerto Rico”

Drawing on ethnographic research in Puerto Rico from 2018 to 2019, government documents, media, legal advocacy sources, and a comparative lens with post-Katrina New Orleans, the essay argues that institutional valuations around property and ownership produced eligibility exclusions and foreclosed access to recovery for some. The federal government’s strict requirements around proving homeownership for individual home repair aid ultimately undermined the local organization and lived experiences of property owners in Puerto Rico, delegitimized ownership claims, and created barriers to accessing aid.