March 12, 2021, San Francisco On Monday, March 15, the Fire Victim Trust (FVT) will begin distributing the first round of pro rata payments toward satisfying the claims of and Claims Administrator Cathy Yanni. Searchable Archives are available to subscribers, back through the year 2000. Quick and fair compensation rang through the courtroom and, at last, us victims felt financial retribution was finally on the way after waiting now 5, 3 and 2 years after our respective fires. These individual victims should not be left to fend for themselves in a creditor class outnumbered by sophisticated and deep-pocketed financial institutions and insurance companies.. Indie Pop Star Michelle Lambert Plays Market and Main in Martinez! The most comprehensive solution to manage all your complex and ever-expanding tax and compliance needs. It has been burning for 28 days and is 27% contained, the state agency said on Aug. - PG&E, the nations largest electric utility, told the California Public Utilities Commission on July 18 that its equipment may have been involved with the start of that fire. Unfortunately, bankruptcy law dictates we follow a highly regimented process governed by a multitude of regulations. I believe that we needed an open line of communication with the trust which I did not get the feeling Justice Trotter supported that, but I do believe we have that going forward with Cathy Yanni.. All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. opt-out claim, and issuance 90% of all Determination Notices. He said their first task was to design a system that allowed 70,000 fire victims to make claims, which he said took time to create and make it capable of receiving and reviewing more than 250,000 unique claims. Since then Trotter said they have received more than 19,000 personal injury claims and more than 400 death claims. . Forgot Password? Please Wait This Portal is the secure website to exchange information between a Fire Victim or a Fire Victims law firm and the Administrators of the Fire Victim Trust. Only persons authorized by the Claims Administrator and the Claims Processor may use this Portal. The court-ordered trust of over $13 billion was established for survivors of devastating Northern California wildfires including the 2015 Butte Fire, the 2017 North Bay Fires and the 2018 Camp Fire. Read Sound rich to you? Accordingly, if you or a loved one experienced personal injury, property loss, business losses, or other damages, you should consult a lawyer in a timely manner. The trust owns about 24% of the companys shares, worth around $4 billion. San Francisco Chronicle. Newsom approved Montalis bankruptcy plan for PGE. Never pay out-of-pocket fees or expenses. Many more fire victims are struggling to do the same. "We remain right on the exact same spot with the identical house we replaced," said Internicola. Once PG&E filed for bankruptcy, however, the civil lawsuits were automatically stayed (or paused). (2), This petition also addresses the actions that embellished and continue to embellish these legal, financial, and government entities and politicians who benefited and continue to benefit from wildfire victims disaster recovery. And these payments have been neither quickly nor fairly paid to victims contrary to Judge Montalis promise to victims. This creates a multi-step process under which if even one claim is missing information, the Trust must notify the Fire Victim (or their lawyer, if represented) and await supplemental documents before finalizing its review and issuing a Determination Notice. 115 0 obj <> endobj A 15% increase was tacked on to the 30% pro-rata payments most claimants have already seen, meaning fire victims should have received 45% of their full approved claim. 7305 to amend IRS Code of 1986 for certain fire survivors' claimants. endstream endobj startxref Then I could go deeper based on what I read. Additional funding for fire victims is coming from a $592 million payment agreement from the PG&E trust, as well as money from selling 40 million shares in PG&E stocks representing around $480 million. (2022, May 6). The trust, which he took over two years ago, was funded with $13.5 billion, half in cash and half in the PG&E common stock. NEW YORK, Aug 11 (Reuters Breakingviews) - An experiment in compensating disaster victims with corporate stock has not gone well. Trustee appointed 11 fire victims to serve on an official committee of tort claimants. While you may submit a claim on your own, we highly recommend consulting an attorney before submitting a claim form and electing to represent yourself in a complex bankruptcy matter. PG&E Bankruptcy Yields $700 Million Fee Bonanza. The number of claimants, variety of claims, quantity of claims, and size of the multi-billion dollar fund make this one of the largest and most complex mass tort settlements in California history. PG&E was forced into bankruptcy after its equipment sparked the Camp Fire that killed at least 85 people and nearly wiped out the Northern California town of Paradise. One of the hallmarks of trust administration is transparency. California established a $21 billion wildfire safety net for state utilities that PG&E can tap if it has over $1 billion of fire claims in a year. (2022, May 25). (4,5,6,7,8). "What's the biggest hold up here," asked ABC7 News I-Team Reporter Melanie Woodrow. I have tried to work cooperatively with the Trustee while pressing for payments to be expedited with greater transparency and accountability, he said in the statement to this newspaper. And we certainly should not be asking them to pay taxes on funds that are going to their lawyers this would be double taxing the settlement dollars. Trotter, a retired California Appeals Court judge, charges $1,500 an hour, according to court filings, while claims administrator Cathy Yanni bills $1,250 an hour. Take a look at more stories by the ABC7 News I-Team. Editing by John Foley and Marjorie Backman, Bond spat is odd look for Melrose deal machine, Lufthansa offers Alitalia heir last chance to fly, Chinas demographic decline can be boon, not doom, Bank of Japan has learnt danger of half-measures, Just Eat delivers right takeaway orders, finally, See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. The notices, which continue to go out on a daily basis, indicate the total monetary value assigned to all of a Fire Victims claims. My goal is to keep the cost of administration below or as close to 1% as possible, Trotter wrote of the Fire Victim Trust. No victims are on the committee. Why? With another 2022 California State budget surplus of $97 billion dollars, please propose allocating $1.5 to $3.5 billion to fully compensate the the wildfire losses of 68,870 wildfire victim families (250,000 citizens/voters) of Northern California. Many, many thanks., The disaster recovery resources you provided helped many individuals and families., Certificate of Appreciation in recognition of your outstanding contributions to the Third Supervisorial District and the County of San Diego., (United Policyholders) provided helpful insights into the state of the current insurance market for earthquake, fire and flood coverage, and the critical rile insurance plays in the ability of our communities recover from such catastrophic events. Analysts on average predict PG&E will make over $9 billion of EBITDA in 2023, compared with less than $6 billion in 2018. To the supervisors' points, it is clear that the excruciatingly slow processing of claims that we victims have suffered through for years demonstrates that the deal that Judge Montali helped craft and approve, and his long-term colleague and fellow octogenarian, Trustee Trotter, is overseeing, and which Gov. It appears there are no age or competency requirements for retirement in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court system. If you have a claim for fire-related damages, you are considered an unsecured creditor of PG&E for purposes of the bankruptcy process. So far, he has lost over $212 million dollars selling the victims stock and pays everyone on his Trust team exorbitant salaries and fees. 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None of these entities were required by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to take one-half of their settlements in PGE stock. Newsom. If PG&E performed well, so would they. Or I knew when to call it good., When disaster hits, FEMA can help communities recover under the Stafford Act (Disasterassistance.gov). California Court Gives Policyholders a Boost: Appellate Panel Publishes Pro-Policyholder COVID-19 Decision, Storm recovery: Find resources here as Santa Cruz County agencies, community groups scramble to coordinate, Meetings educate public on insurance, resources after floods. Screen for heightened risk individual and entities globally to help uncover hidden risks in business relationships and human networks. If he or Ms. Yanni (his replacement appointed solely by Trustee Trotter) sells the remaining 377 million of the victims shares for the same loss, victims stand to lose over $1.1 billion of their $13.5 billion settlement, perhaps much more. And Gov. Broadly, the process involves the following steps: With support from the Governors office and the California legislature, PG&E is expected to emerge from bankruptcy under a reorganization plan in secure (or investable) financial condition. Gov. In January, PG&E made the final installment on its promised trust fund contribution, adding $592 million to the fund. Representatives for the Fire Victim Trust declined to be interviewed. An annual report filed in federal bankruptcy court last week by its trustee, John Trotter, reported $38. 7 million spent on financial professionals, claims administrators, consultants and other operating expenses between July 1 and the end of 2020. Legal claims arising out of the 2017 North Bay Fires and the 2018 Camp Fire will now proceed to resolution through the bankruptcy court rather than the civil courts. "This trust was set up to help people get back on their feet and recover after a destructive fire. The court-ordered trust of over $13 billion was established for survivors of devastating Northern California wildfires including the 2015 Butte Fire, the 2017 North Bay California Governor's Office of Emergency Services, Christopher and Urmila - 2017 Tubbs Fire Victims, FEMA can help California communities recover under the Stafford Act, Home insurance availability, affordability AND quality is shrinking: States and the Feds must coordinate and take action to protect homeownership in the US. Santa Rosa Press Democrat. Retrieved June 5, 2022, from https://www.capradio.org/articles/2021/05/17/a-cascade-of-outrage-follows-investigation-into-pge-fire-victim-trust-expenses/, (5) California Legislative Information. Under the direction of the Trustee, the Honorable John K. Trotter (Ret.) The Butte Fire, North Bay Fires and Camp Fire burned 400,000 acres, destroying 10s of thousands of homes and other structures. Furthermore, Gov. Trustee appointed 11 fire victims to serve on an official committee of tort claimants. Today, the Fire Victim Trust holds almost a quarter of PG&E shares. What's wrong with this picture? Read the responses here. This time period may be shorter than the statute of limitations that might otherwise apply in the civil court. %PDF-1.6 % Michael Internicola and his family lost everything in the 2017 Tubbs Fire. 0 PG&E filed for bankruptcy voluntarily, and the company is not insolvent. On June 28th, the Commissioner of the IRS responded to a request by Congressman Mike Thompson and Congressman Doug LaMalfa requesting guidance on the taxability of the settlement funds received from the Fire Victims Trust (FVT). But the bill is stuck. Give the people you love peace of mind by helping them be financially resilient and prepared.ThisGive Peace of Mind Gift Catalogis full of free tips to help spark important discussions and actions around disaster preparedness. She added: We will continue to monitor the markets in collaboration with our financial advisors to monetize the remaining shares as quickly as we can, but in a responsible manner, taking into account price, market conditions and the needs of fire survivors.. These preliminary payments, which have totaled $79 million to date, will continue to be made on an ongoing basis. PGE Fire Victim Trust (Well-Paid) Bureaucracy, At the top of the fee food-chain heap is, of course, the Fire Victim Trust managers (i.e., the Trustee (John Trotter), the Manager (Cindy Yanni), and the Special Master (Ellen Sickle James) who are reported to earn make $125,000, $200,000 and $176,000 per month, respectively. In November, Yanni told KQED she expected it would take two years to pay all victims with claims. Some fire survivors fear it will take much longer. The longer it takes, the higher the cost of overhead will be. Newson, just approved two new rate hikes to PG&E customers (including all PG&E victim customers) totaling a 23% increase to rate payers effective March 2022. The industry leader for online information for tax, accounting and finance professionals. Newsom arbitrarily approved their safety rating while they continue to start fires and the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), also appointed by Gov. Again, the majority of wildfire victims had been waiting 3 to 6 years (in our case 3 years) and his words fair settlement in a reasonable amount of time washed over us like a long-awaited shower after being stranded in the wildfire jungle for years. and Cathy Yanni appointed Trustee and Claims Administrator of the Fire Victim Trust (FVT), Bankruptcy Court confirmed PG&Es Chapter 11 Plan of Reorganization, FVT established and funded with $5.4 billion cash and PG&E stock, FVT began accepting claims information on FVT Portal, FVT began issuing Preliminary Payments to Fire Victims, Original Claims Questionnaire filing deadline (later extended to 2/26/21), $758 million cash payment received from PG&E, Claims Questionnaire filing deadline (extended from 12/31/20), FVT began issuing Pro Rata Payments to Fire Victims, $592 million cash payment received from PG&E, Cathy Yanni becomes Trustee of the Fire Victim Trust. The FVT was created in July 2020 and funded with both cash and shares of stock pursuant to PG&Es Chapter 11 Plan of Reorganization. This petition requests that Gov. Here we are devastated by our losses, wondering how we could ever recover, and our attorneys are saying this settlement offer is our only hope. 15, 2022,the Fire Survivors Suffer and Wait. hbbd```b``3@$SXd:L|:TJ D2E,yd2c4(SGX&>`YZL L`]df|0 ` To download an extensive set of FAQs, click here. (12,19). Whether you are traveling, We support the Federal Insurance Office in their efforts to gather national data to get a clear picture of how insurers are adapting their operations in response to climate change, and how their actions are impacting property insurance affordability and availability across the nation.. Our experienced mass tort attorneys provide consultations at no cost and with no obligation. Thank you @GavinNewsom for the appointment of #NancyWard. NORTH BAY, CA U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (D-St. Helena) co-introduced legislation Wednesday that would ensure fire survivors are not taxed on payments received from the PG&E Fire Victims Trust. At that time, 476,995,175 shares of common stock were transferred to the Trust. Claimants with Submitted Claims Questionnaires (CQs), ,the Legislators have presented a bipartisan bill that would exempt federal taxes on the money survivors get from the Wildfire Victim Trust Fund. However, the 68,870 wildfire victims (approximately 250,000 people) have been short-changed and slow-paid pennies on the dollar and were required to take one half of their settlement in PGE stock. The deal was structured to avoid having to pay taxes on the sale, authorities said. He (and now Ms. Yanni) has complete discretion over when and how much to sell the victims PGE shares. Happy New Year. Less than 1% of all claims have been appealed. This petition focuses on the victims of the Northern California wildfires between 2015 and 2018, including all wildfires in this period for which PGE was held legally responsible for victims losses in their 2019 U.S. Bankruptcy filing and proceedings and codified in their exit from their bankruptcy process, resulting in the creation of the PGE Fire Victim Trust. It was done on our dime before being done by the attorneys before the trust was established., We recognize that because of PG&Es bankruptcy, the fire victims have been waiting a long time for compensation, Trotter said in a statement. Im pleased that the Trust is able to start making substantial pro rata payments in what has been a relatively short period of time by any bankruptcy settlement standard. (9) The deal was forged by this cast of players, i.e., Judge Montali, the Hedge Fund managers, the PG&E and Victims attorneys, and other large creditors and received the stamp-of-approval by Gov. Retrieved June 5, 2022, from https://abc7news.com/pg-e-fire-victims-victim-trust-fund-ca-wildfire-not-paid-taxpayer/11593929/, (7) Jamali, L. J. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. More fires are a virtual certainty. John K. Trotter (ret.) Read the responses, , the Trust sent letters in support of H.R. I recommend them without reservation., We cannot thank you enough for all your support, education and assistance through our recovery from the 2017 Tubbs Fire. "We don't have enough to rebuild and we're just essentially stuck," Camp Fire Survivor David Breed recently told ABC7 News. - The company filed for bankruptcy in January 2019 following a series of wildfires in 2015, 2017 and 2018. By our calculations, our attorneys for our PG&E Fire Victim Trust settlement were fairly compensated for the time they spent on our claims processing with the Trust. KQED analyzed federal bankruptcy court filings, court transcripts and correspondence between victims and staff of the Fire Victim Trust. The shares have lost 15% of their value in a month. How safe is your neighborhood? "It was really disappointing that many members of Congress signed a letter asking for clarification and they took five months fooling around getting back to us," said LaMalfa. On December Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals, the world's media organizations, industry events and directly to consumers. The IRS letter echoed articles you have I think that is a positive for the trust and the fire victims, Crowder said on Wednesday afternoon. All rights reserved. If you're on the ABC7 News app, click here to watch live, Videos show parade of storms toppling trees across SF Bay Area, The warning signs your tree may fall during next storm, 18 killed in helicopter crash near Kyiv, Ukraine, including children. hb```e"B eap@a~il=6Q,NwkGFGRWTl%Xl) c$sAf>OL2aT`fafa? SAN FRANCISCO (AP) A trust approved by a federal judge to help compensate victims of deadly California wildfires sparked by Pacific Gas & Electric equipment paid survivors just $7 million while racking up $51 million in overhead in its first year of operation, KQED News reported. Still today, tens of thousands of these wildfire victims have received no settlement payments whatsoever. Claimants (or their lawyers, if represented) can access their confidential claims information, notices, and other program materials by logging into their secure Portal account here. The trust, which he took over two years ago, was funded with $13.5 billion, half in cash and half in the PG&E common stock. Congressman LaMalfa says that gives them through the end of the year to get the legislation passed. Large and damaging wildfires were started by PGEs negligence that began with the 2015 Lake County wildfire and continued with the 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021 wildfires that scorched Northern California, destroying the homes and property of 68,870 families and businesses.

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