February 14, 2017
Federal relief is available for those affected by tornadoes in Louisiana. On Monday, February 13th 2017, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced it will “speed federal disaster assistance to the State of Louisiana and provide support to homeowners and low-income renters forced from their homes due to severe storms, tornadoes, and straight-line winds” according to a press release on the FHA/HUD official site.
There has been a federal disaster declaration for Livingston and Orleans parishes. “The President’s declaration allows HUD to offer foreclosure relief and other assistance to certain families living in this county” according to HUD.gov.
What types of assistance are available? Foreclosure relief, rehab loans, rehab refinance loans, and other options. There may also be assistance from FEMA available to affected home owners. According to the press release, HUD has granted immediate foreclosure relief, featuring “…a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures and forbearance on foreclosures of Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured home mortgages“.
The press release adds, “HUD’s Section 203(h) program provides FHA insurance to disaster victims who have lost their homes and are facing the daunting task of rebuilding or buying another home. Borrowers from participating FHA-approved lenders are eligible for 100 percent financing, including closing costs”, and there are also options for affected borrowers under the 203(k) program.
For those interested in the 203(k), this type of purchase/FHA refinance option for disaster victims, “enables those who have lost their homes to finance the purchase or refinance of a house along with its repair through a single mortgage. It also allows homeowners who have damaged houses to finance the rehabilitation of their existing single-family home”.
In the wake of a natural disaster it is crucial for home owners to contact their loan officers and insurance representatives as quickly as possible. Never assume your payments are not due unless you have made specific arrangements with your lender-those arrangements are a major part of your recovery process.
Even with foreclosure moratoriums and loan forbearance options being made available to affected home owners, the borrower and lender must work together after a natural disaster to insure the maximum number of options are available to the borrower.
You can learn more about HUD’s options for disaster victims at the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s official site: https://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/info/disasterresources.
Joe Wallace has been specializing in military and personal finance topics since 1995. His work has appeared on Air Force Television News, The Pentagon Channel, ABC and a variety of print and online publications. He is a 13-year Air Force veteran and a member of the Air Force Public Affairs Alumni Association. He was Managing editor for www.valoans.com for (8) years and is currently the Associate Editor for FHANewsblog.com.
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