FLINT, Mich. (WJRT) - Tens of thousands of Flint residents are waiting on payments from a historic $626 million settlement 10 years after the Flint water crisis started and years after they filed claims.
Three law firms are still trying to track down people who filed claims before the money can be disbursed. They hired private investigators to find these people, who need to provide information to complete their claim filings.
The claims that lack necessary information or documents are holding up the process for everyone who is waiting for their share of the settlement fund.
"We actually started this in June of last year," said Al Ogg.
He and Patrick Young both have retired from the Michigan State Police and launched their own private investigation firms. Both have been hired by a law firm to look for people who need to file more documents to process their claims.
"They lost contact with them, could no longer find them, could no longer reach them," Ogg said.
Since last June, they have met in Flint -- sometimes three days a week -- and look through a list of about 300 claims filed by the parents or guardians of children who should receive money.
"Some are kind of happy to see us, because they have wondered what is going on for so long," Young said. "They hadn't heard anything."
Others, who filed claims and could qualify to get money, have kicked the investigators off their property. Some people have moved, but Ogg believes some people are skeptical after waiting years without seeing the money.
"So when we come knocking on their door, reach out to them, tell them we are working on it, trying to complete it, I think a lot of people don't trust it," Ogg said. "They just don't think that we are real, that we are legitimate."
Some claims are missing Social Security numbers, signatures or required medical records. Young said some people they contact tell the investigators they've already supplied that information.
"That seems to be quite a sore spot for a lot of folks to that when we ask for particular items that are needed," Young said. "They will tell us, 'We provided that three or four times over the years.'"
Ogg believes the claim filing system has not properly captured some information over the years, so the investigators are tracking down claimants to collect it again.
On one day in April, Ogg and Young stopped at a residence in Burton, where a woman who used to live in Flint has filed a claim. They've had trouble finding her and no one answered after a few knocks.
A neighbor believes the investigators have an incorrect address.
"She knew the first names of both occupants at this address and said it's not the person we are trying to contact, so we are believing we may have another bad address. That's not good even though she just gave us this address as where she now lives," Ogg said.
He said it's frustrating trying to track down people who people move frequently.
In Flint Township, they return to a home where a woman is a guardian of two young children. Their father, who filed the original claim, has died and the mother needed to sign a new contract with the law firm.
"She completed that link so that contract is now in her name on behalf of the kids," Ogg said. "And she completed and provided us copies of the guardianship paper and birth certificates for both of those children. Those claims should be complete for both of those kids."
Their next stop was on Clement Street in Flint, where they were looking for Annette Hollins, who has filed a claim for her four children.
"The times we have been there, most often if not all times, someone other than her will come out and talk with us and upon our request to talk with her," Young said. "She wasn't available."
On this day, Hollins was home and she was grateful for the visit, "because this is much needed," she said.
She hasn't given up hope of seeing money from the water settlement.
"There have just been a lot of little things going on, personal life," Hollins said.
She was told all she needed to do to complete the claim was to get her children's medical records, which she pledged to do right away.
Young and Ogg are working for the law firm of Pintas and Mullins, which released the following statement about the progress of completing the claims process so money can be disbursed:
"The people of Flint have suffered tremendously from this horrible event. Our firm, along with Ben Crump Law and Napoli Shkolnik, are working very hard to get this across the finish line. The residents of Flint have waited years for their settlements and unfortunately the claims process has been incredibly challenging. Our firms collectively represent over 10,000 residents and wish this process could have been quicker and more seamless for everyone."
Ogg and Young have located about 200 of the 300 claimants they have been asked to locate. They will keep looking for the remaining 100.
"We are just trying desperately to resolve this so the kids get the money they are entitled to," Ogg said.
Young said he enjoys the challenge, because he is originally from Flint and he's using his work as an opportunity to help people affected by the water crisis.
"These folks, they have been through a lot," he said.
