Less Than One Month Left for Hurricane Katrina Victims in Mississippi to Apply for SBA Low-Interest Disaster Loans17 February 2006
The U.S. Small Business Administration is encouraging hurricane victims with physical damage to complete and return their disaster loan applications before the March 11 deadline. These low-interest disaster loans are available to homeowners, renters, business owners and non-profit organizations that suffered damages as a result of Hurricane Katrina.
"SBA disaster loans are the primary source of long-term recovery assistance from the federal government," said Frank Skaggs, Director of SBA Field Operations Center - East. "To date, we have approved more than $1,463,830,000 in the State of Mississippi for the victims of Hurricane Katrina."
A completed application will also keep the door open to other types of assistance. If the SBA is unable to approve a loan for a homeowner or renter, the applicant may be automatically referred to other available disaster assistance programs, including grants. Those who do not return a completed SBA application may be disqualifying themselves from any further assistance.
Homeowners and renters should not wait for other grant programs or insurance settlements before submitting their SBA loan applications. If you do not know how much of your loss will be covered by insurance or other sources, the SBA will consider making you a loan for the full amount of the loss, up to its loan limits, providing the borrower agrees that insurance proceeds will be used to payoff or reduce the amount of the SBA loan.
In the declared counties, SBA offers loans of up to $200,000 to repair disaster damaged homes. Homeowners and renters are eligible for up to $40,000 to replace personal property. Loans to businesses and non-profit organizations up to $1.5 million are available to repair damage to real estate, machinery, equipment, inventory, and for leasehold improvements. Working capital assistance is also available to small businesses through SBA's Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. A business need not have physical damage to be eligible for economic injury assistance.
Interest rates for homeowners and renters can be as low as 2.687 percent and 4.000 percent for businesses. Loan terms on all loans can be up to 30 years. Actual loan amounts and terms are set by SBA and are based on each applicant's financial condition.
Disaster victims are reminded that to be considered for federal disaster assistance, including SBA's disaster loans, they must first call the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) at 1-800-621-FEMA (3362).
The deadline for returning applications for physical damage is March 11, 2006; the deadline to return economic injury applications is May 29, 2006.
For more information about the SBA's Disaster Loan Programs visit our website at http://www.sba.gov/disaster
Source: prnewswire
All trademarks and copyrighted information contained herein are the property of their respective owners.
Related Articles
|
