If you’ve been affected by Hurricane Ian, there may be financial help available.
Hurricane Ian’s landfall on Florida generated lingering problems that leave many residents and business owners wondering what to do.
The federal declaration of a Major Disaster in Florida opens up new options for Floridians to receive help recovering from the hurricane, and several types of loans are available to kick start the rebuilding process.
Quick look
- Loans are available to repair the physical damage to homes and businesses and alleviate economic impacts
- These loans are issued by the Small Business Administration
- These loans cover about half of Florida, including just about everywhere along the track of Hurricane Ian
- This information is current as of October 4th, updated as necessary
Who can get these loans?
Currently, the SBA loans are available to residents of 36 out of 67 counties in the state of Florida. If you were in the path of Hurricane Ian, you are more than likely eligible for the loans.
What kind of loans are available?
The Small Business Administration is currently offering three different types of loans to victims of Hurricane Ian.
- Home and Personal Property Loans are available to repair damages to your home and personal property like your car
- Business Physical Disaster Loans are available to repair physical damages to businesses, like premises or equipment
- Economic Injury Disaster Loans are available to alleviate economic impacts of the hurricane on small businesses or nonprofits
Home and Personal Property Loan
If your home or personal property were damaged during Hurricane Ian, this is the loan for you. The loans cover up to $200,000 of damages to your primary residence, and up to $40,000 to cover personal property such as furniture, appliances, or cars. The SBA also might be able to refinance all or part of a previous mortgage.
These loans can't be used to upgrade homes or make additions, but there’s an exception: if you’re making improvements to protect against future disasters, you may qualify for an additional 20% on top of your original loan amount.
There are a few other caveats. Any proceeds from insurance will be subtracted from the overall loan amount. Additionally, these loans do not cover secondary homes or vacation properties, only primary residences, though if the house is used as a rental property it might be covered under the business loans.
Interest rates are generally low. If you’re unable to obtain credit elsewhere, you’ll receive a 4% interest rate, and that goes up to 8% if you do have other sources of credit. The loans also have pretty generous terms, up to 30 years in some cases.
The application deadline for these loans is November 28th, 2022, so now is the time to think about it! The funding is not infinite, and it’s first come first served.
Business Physical Disaster Loan
If you’re a business owner with property damaged during the hurricane, you’re also eligible for a loan to repair or replace real estate, inventory, supplies, machinery, or equipment.
Businesses of any size are eligible, along with private nonprofits such as charities, churches, or private universities.
The loans go up to $2 million. Similarly to the Home and Personal Property Loans, an additional 20% is available to help cover improvements to ward off future disaster.
Other terms of the Business Physical Disaster Loans also resemble the Home and Personal Property Loans. Any insurance proceeds will be deducted from the overall loan amount, the interest is 4% without other sources of credit and 8% with, and the terms extend up to 30 years.
And the application deadline is, once again, November 28th, 2022, but you should get your application in as soon as possible to ensure that they’ll get to you in time.
Economic Impact Disaster Loans
The EIDLs were made famous in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and these loans are also available to victims of Hurricane Ian. Unlike the other two types of loans, which are intended to repair physical damage to homes and businesses, the Economic Impact Disaster Loans are intended to alleviate the losses in revenue caused by a destructive natural disaster.
Small businesses, small agricultural collectives, and most private nonprofits are eligible, as long as they have suffered “substantial economic injury,” meaning they are unable to meet obligations and pay ordinary operating expenses that, in ordinary circumstances, they’d be able to cover on their own.
These loans, up to $2 million, are intended to cover these normal expenses, including health care benefits, rent, utilities, and debt payments, and to be used as working capital.
Like the physical damage loans above, the EIDL repayment terms can extend for up to 30 years depending on ability to repay. Unlike the other loans, however, the EIDLs will have an interest rate not exceeding 4%. If the business can obtain adequate credit elsewhere, the loans will not be available at all.
The application deadline for the EIDLs stretches to June 29th, 2023, and while it may look like there’s plenty of time, the SBA is working on a limited budget and funds could run out. They’re still struggling to handle the volume of EIDL applications they received during COVID-19, so it’s important to get a place in line. Put another way: don’t wait, get your application in yesterday.
Common EIDL questions
- Can I get an EIDL for hurricane damages if I already got one for COVID-19? Yes, but the combined limit for all loan amounts is $2 million.
- Can I get an EIDL, a Home and Property Loan, and a Business Physical Disaster Loan? Also yes! But the $2 million limit applies here as well.
Bottom line
If you were hit by Hurricane Ian and suffered physical or economic damages to your home or business, you are more than likely eligible for an SBA loan to ease the pressure. If you’re facing significant setbacks, consider applying today.
