It is difficult to overstate how cynically and incompetently Florida officials have mishandled money that was meant to be a lifeline for people in crisis. As pointed out last month by Tampa Bay Times senior correspondent Susan Taylor Martin, a recent special inspector general report criticized the state's housing agency for spending more than $100,000 of funds on employee bonuses and other perks.

From the time more than $1 billion in aid started flowing into the state in 2010, Florida has delayed, distorted and otherwise bungled the effort's clear mission. One of the original five states targeted in a program that eventually grew to 18, Florida was always woefully behind its neighbors in disbursing money. It began when state officials soft-pedaled the news that this help was even available. Then, as foreclosures were surging and housing values were dropping dramatically, Florida decided it needed to run a three-month pilot program in a single county. That three months turned into six, as more and more people across the state lost their homes.

Martin's reporting for the Times in March 2013 revealed Florida was trailing every other state in rescuing distressed mortgages, and when money was awarded it occasionally went to felons, tax evaders and people with a history of running up mountains of debt. By April of that year, the U.S. Treasury Department had opened an investigation into Florida's handling of funds.

By the fall of 2013, Florida began to focus on residents who were upside-down on their mortgages due to falling house values. A rush of 25,000 residents applied for the program that would help pay down principal balances. Four months later, Florida had assisted a total of 750 homeowners, or 0.3 percent.