West Virginia renters who experienced losses due to the severe storms, flooding, landslides, and mudslides beginning on June 22, 2016, may be eligible for disaster recovery assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S Small Business Administration (SBA).
“The catastrophic weather that affected West Virginia did not discriminate between homeowners and renters and neither do we,” said Federal Coordinating Officer Albert Lewis, who leads FEMA’s mission in the Mountain State.
Renters may be eligible for grants from FEMA to help with such disaster-related expenses as:
- Renting a new place to live when the renter’s previous home was lost due to the disaster.
- Disaster related medical and dental expenses.
- 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 the self-employed.
- Repair or replacement of vehicles damaged by the disaster.
- Disaster-related funeral and burial expenses.
FEMA grants are not loans and do not have to be repaid. They are not taxable income and will not affect eligibility for Social Security, Medicaid, welfare assistance, SNAP benefits and several other programs.
Additionally, renters may qualify for a low-interest loan of up to $40,000 from the SBA to repair or replace personal property.
Renters who sustained losses can apply for assistance by using the FEMA App for smartphones, going online to DisasterAssistance.gov or calling 800-621-3362, or
(TTY) 800-462-7585. For those who use 711 or video relay service, call 800-621-3362. The toll-free telephone numbers are open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. (local time) seven days a week.
For more information about disaster loans, call SBA’s Disaster Assistance Customer Service Center at 800-659-2955, email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov, or visit sba.gov/disaster. TTY users may call 800-877-8339. Applicants may also apply online using the Electronic Loan Application via SBA’s secure website at disasterloan.sba.gov/ela.
For more information on West Virginia’s disaster recovery, visit the Flood Information page on the website of the West Virginia Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, fema.gov/disaster/4273, twitter.com/FEMA, facebook.com/FEMA and fema.gov/blog.
