Thousands of homeowners who think they were lowballed by flood insurers after superstorm Sandy should keep an eye on their mailboxes next month, although for most it will likely be a longer wait for justice.

Executives at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which underwrites nearly all flood insurance policies in the U.S., divulged details about the still-forming review process during the first meeting of the Sandy Task Force, a committee that includes U.S. senators from New Jersey and New York.

FEMA head Craig Fugate said the plan is to start first with the claims where an engineering review was performed by any firm that has been tied to some of the questionable actions that have come to light in recent months. After that, he continued, will be policyholders whose insurer had an structural inspection performed by any other firm. Then, finally, anybody else whose policy was paid out below policy limits.

“I want to be able by May to send out the first letters,” said Brad Kieserman, who is overseeing what FEMA is calling the Sandy claims review.

Kieserman declined to elaborate on any time line, acknowledging that number of people potentially involved — more than 140,000 claims could be in line for a another look — makes this “unprecedented.”

Last month, FEMA said it had identified 15,311 claims where an engineering report was prepared on behalf of the insurer and the payment was something less than the maximum the policy allows. Of those, 3,402 were in New Jersey.

When superstorm Sandy blew through Lakewood in 2012, a tree crushed Will Brown’s dwelling. Brown’s dwelling was made not of brick and mortar, but of nylon and twine.

That distinction doesn’t matter to homeless advocates, who are urging former residents of Tent City — a homeless camp in the woods of Lakewood that has since shuttered — to apply for two years of federal housing vouchers meant to help low-income Sandy victims.

“I lost everything that I owned to Sandy,” said Brown, 51, who could not rebuild the tent. “A generator, a TV set, a DVD player, clothing, canned foods – it was all destroyed.”

The thought of people who were homeless before Sandy taking advantage of the Sandy Tenant-Based Rental Assistance Program is “totally absurd,” said Diane Mazzacca, whose home in Beach Haven West was severely damaged by Sandy.

“I’m so livid, I could spit nails,” Mazzacca said. “New Jersey wants to pay for social services on the backs of Sandy victims.”

Housing advocates see nothing extraordinary about the homeless getting the Sandy help. The superstorm impacted not only property owners and long-term renters, but those in unstable housing situations, said Adam Gordon, an attorney with the non-profit Fair Share Housing Center, one of several organizations encouraging the homeless to apply for the 1,400 TBRA vouchers, which will total $32 million.

TRENTON – A new aid program for superstorm Sandy victims will provide payment for temporary housing while their homes are undergoing repairs or being elevated.

The Rental Assistance Program, approved Thursday by the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency (HMFA) board, will provide up to $825 a month for up to three months for eligible homeowners who are participating in the state’s Reconstruction, Rehabilitation, Elevation and Mitigation (RREM) or LMI Homeowners Rebuilding programs.

The program will begin accepting applications March 16. Details on how and where to apply for the aid will be released when the program launches that same day, according to a press release from the state Department of Community Affairs.

“Right now, rental assistance for temporary housing is a significant need for homeowners in our major housing recovery programs,” said Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency Executive Director Anthony L. Marchetta. “The administration recognizes that rebuilding, repairing or elevating a home puts a significant strain on families who are already shouldering a great financial burden. There is a need to help relieve some of that financial pressure and facilitate the recovery process to get families back home.”

Hundreds of families forced from their homes during superstorm Sandy now face a new tempest: foreclosure on the properties they are struggling to rebuild.

An Asbury Park Press analysis has identified 305 Sandy-affected homes in Monmouth and Ocean counties that have been pushed into the property-seizure process during the first 10 months of 2014.

Of the 305 homes in foreclosure, 134 incurred some level of damage or inundation, the Press found. The remaining homes were found to be within the flood zones, which could have dramatically altered neighborhoods, affected property values and spurred foreclosure.

Experts say the glut of foreclosed homes in New Jersey makes it difficult to quantify what impact the devastating October 2012 storm had on borrowers’ ability to stay current on their mortgages. But they agreed Sandy definitely plays a part in the ongoing foreclosure crisis in the Garden State, which by percentage has more distressed properties than any state in the nation.

TOMS RIVER – Ocean County’s Long-Term Recovery Group is seeking $20 million in funds for a coordinated program that it says can help get more Sandy victims back into their homes.

The group is an umbrella organization of more than 80 nonprofits that has worked to provide money and volunteer labor that helps fill gaps between a homeowners’ resources and the actual cost of rebuilding. The recovery group recently submitted its request to the state Department of Community Affairs, and is seeking money from the $502 million New Jersey is slated to received in the third round of federal Sandy recovery funds.

It is asking for the $20 million to be distributed over the next two years.

TOMS RIVER – Frances Accardi has been living in an uninsulated travel trailer on her Toms River property since shortly after Superstorm Sandy flooded her ranch home with 5 feet of water, forcing her to have it demolished.

Secret Sandy engineering reports set to be released

On Tuesday Accardi, who is still trying to rebuild her house, came to a hearing on the state’s plans for $502 million in federal storm aid to beg New Jersey officials to do a better job getting people back home.

“We are reaching out to you because we don’t know which other way to turn,” said Accardi, who lives in Toms River’s Silverton section, which was badly flooded during Sandy. “The people who don’t have a house to live in should be the first to be addressed.”