I was very much surprised by the process that determines whether or not an area will get a grant (as opposed to loan) help. For instance, in northern
Virginia area residents sustained a lot of flood damage. FEMA denied them disaster assistance.
Instead the SBA will spearhead a loan program for qualified residents at a lower interest rate. Number one I don't understand why its the SBA and not another agency that is handling this since it was always my thought that the SBA had to do with businesses and not personal residences. Number 2 I would love to know the reason why disaster assistance was denied for this particular area/region.
Of course when the residents heard of FEMA's decision they were outraged and they sent letters to that effect. It can take a lot of weeks before a
decision is made as to whether or not an affected area will get disaster relief from FEMA.
In the meantime the the residents still have to make a decision as to what they are going to do as far as repairing the damage to their residences.
Some of them had no flood insurance which - of course - makes the whole situation worse for them.
So instead of grants, eligible residents can apply for loans at a rate as low as less than 3 percent interest. $200,000.00 is available for structural
damage and $40,000.00 is available to replace personal property. I don't know whether or not these loans are secured
loans or not so its best to check the fine print BEFORE you
sign anything. If you have bad credit then - as far as I know - this shouldn't affect you
appling for this type of loan - but again - be sure to check first!
If you do have bad credit then you should get a a copy of your credit report. The law
says that you are entitled to a free credit report every year so you should take advantage
of that and get a copy of credit report for free.
Again, I would love to know the reason why FEMA denied this assistance?
