The deadline to apply for disaster loans from the Small Business Administration for damage caused by Hurricane Helene is Wednesday, Nov. 27.
These loans help fill the gap between what insurance and FEMA pay and what homeowners and business owners can afford to cover, SBA spokesperson Julie Garrett said. These can also cover insurance deductibles.
"There's actually a lot of great features to the loan,” she said. “You can add mitigation funding to your loan to build back stronger, to make your repairs and to prepare for whatever the next disaster is."
SBA disaster loans also help meet FEMA’s 50% rule, which says if a property owner is making repairs that cost more than half the market value of their home or business, they have to bring the building up to current floodplain management standards.
There are three types of loans property owners can apply for: home disaster loans, business physical disaster loans and economic injury disaster loans.
The deadline for the physical disaster loans is Nov. 27, but business owners have until June to file for economic injury.
Small businesses do not need to have physical damage to apply for an economic injury disaster loan.
“If tourism is down and your small business is feeling economic impacts, you can apply for working capital to help meet your monthly operating expenses and keep the doors open until your community is fully recovered,” Garrett said.
SBA disaster loans are flexible, with low interest rates and up to 30 years to repay them.
Interest rates for homeowners and renters are as low as 2.8%. For nonprofit organizations, interest rates are 3.25% and for businesses, they are as low as 4%.
The first payment also is not due until after the first 12 months with no interest.
SBA is waiting for additional funding for disaster loans from Congress, but Garrett said home and business owners should apply now.
“"In the meantime, all the people who work on your application, all the people who are going to process your application – they're working,” she said. “We want you to apply now, get your application in, hopefully get it approved and then, once that money is available, we'll be able to quickly disperse it."
But, Garrett added she did not know how long people will have to wait to get their loans.
She said if someone applies and their application is not accepted, they can apply for reconsideration up to six months after receiving the denial letter.
If the loan is approved, the borrower has three weeks to accept. If they turn it down, they have six months to change their mind.
Borrowers have two years to increase the amount of the loan if they need more funds than estimated or want additional funding for mitigation projects.
“This is a really great feature to these loans – if you want to build back stronger and make some changes at your house to help you get through the next hurricane better,” she said.
People can visit any disaster recovery center for one-on-one assistance as well.
The deadline to apply for loans related to damages caused by Hurricane Milton is Dec. 10.
For more information, visit the SBA website or call 800-659-2955.
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