New Tampa and Wesley Chapel residents whose homes, possessions or businesses suffered damage or loss as a result of Hurricane Irma may be surprised that the Small Business Administration (SBA) can help them get back in business or help them be made whole again.
The SBA is providing assistance with low-interest disaster loans for Florida residents and businesses in the 48 counties covered by U.S. President Donald J. Trump’s disaster declaration covering areas affected by Hurricane Irma. Hillsborough and Pasco are among the Florida counties eligible for federal assistance.
Homeowners can apply for low-interest loans up to $200,000 to repair or replace damage to their primary residence and along with renters, can apply for up to $40,000 to cover personal property, including vehicles. SBA homeowner disaster loan rates are advertised as being as low as 1.75 percent with terms up to 30 years.
Help For Businesses, Too
When it comes to assisting businesses and private nonprofit organizations of any size, the SBA disaster loans address not only physical damage to assets such as real estate, infrastructure and inventory, but economic loss as well. Owners can apply for up to $2 million for physical loss and $2 million to cover working capital.
Those loans, called Economic Injury Disaster Loans, are available even if no physical property damage has occurred.
The SBA is advertising loan rates as low as 3.305 percent for businesses and as low as 2.5 percent for non-profit organizations.
The SBA may not be the first place people might think of for homeowner or renter disaster assistance, so public affairs specialists like Mary Gipson and Laura Wages have been dispatched from the agency’s Disaster Assistance Field Operations Office in Atlanta to spread the word about the resource through local media, including a recent stop at the Neighborhood News office.
Gipson says providing disaster assistance is part of the job. “In times of presidential or other federal agency-declared disaster, we make loans to businesses of all sizes, nonprofit organizations, homeowners and renters,” she says.
Applications for physical property damage loans need to be filed by Thursday, November 9, and the deadline to return economic injury applications is June 11, 2018.
According to Gipson, if you think you have a claim, apply sooner, not later.
“Do not delay when completing your SBA application,” she says.
The SBA loaned $40,900 in Tampa in 2016, with no reported loans in Wesley Chapel, according to data on its website, sba.gov, where you can find more information and apply online.
You can call (800) 659-2955 (or {800} 877-8339 (for deaf and hard of hearing applicants) or call Mary at (202) 579-3172.
If you prefer to do business in person, there is an SBA Disaster Recovery Center serving Hillsborough and Pasco county residents 36 minutes south of County Line Rd. and Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., at Hillsborough Community College at the Regent (6437 Watson Rd. in Riverview). It is open daily from 8 a.m. — 8 p.m., according to the SBA website. Applicants can get assistance filling out the form and have their application reviewed before submitting it.
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