MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Alabama renters who face eviction or have been evicted from their hurricane-damaged apartment complex may be eligible for disaster assistance from FEMA. This may be so even if they were previously determined ineligible for FEMA assistance.
Residents of Baldwin, Escambia and Mobile counties impacted by Hurricane Sally have several ways to apply for disaster assistance:
- Go online to DisasterAssistance.gov.
- Use the FEMA mobile app.
- Call FEMA at 800-621-3362 (voice, 711 or VRS) or 800-462-7585 (TTY) anytime from 6 a.m. to midnight (Central Time) seven days a week. Multilingual operators are available.
If you have received a determination letter from FEMA but have since been evicted, call FEMA with your eviction papers in-hand to find out if you may be eligible to re-apply for assistance.
If you have already registered with and were later evicted due to damage to other parts of your complex, you can upload your eviction papers to your personal FEMA account at DisasterAssistance.gov or call the FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362 for assistance.
Renters may be eligible for grants from FEMA to help with disaster-related expenses, such as:
- Renting a home when the renter’s previous home is unsafe to live in due to the disaster or their apartment complex is under repair.
- Disaster-related medical and dental expenses.
- Child-care assistance.
- Moving and storage fees.
- Replacement or repair of necessary personal property lost or damaged in the disaster, such as appliances and furniture, textbooks and computers used by students, and work equipment or tools used by independent contractors.
- Repair or replacement of vehicles damaged by the disaster.
- Uninsured and out-of-pocket disaster-related funeral and burial expenses.
The grants are not loans and do not have to be repaid. They are not taxable income and won’t affect eligibility for Social Security, Medicaid, welfare assistance, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits and several other programs.
Renters may be able to borrow up to $40,000 to replace storm-damaged or destroyed personal property, such as clothing, furniture, appliances and cars.
Before applying for an SBA loan, you must first register with FEMA. You may then apply to SBA by visiting the SBA’s Disaster Loan Application.
If you have already registered with FEMA, the agency can transfer your information to SBA.
FEMA wants to make sure that every disaster survivor has equal access to disaster information and assistance. Renters who are deaf or hard of hearing may view a video on available assistance.