ORLANDO, Fla. – In an aggressive move to help families struggling after Hurricane Ian, the U.S. Small Business Administration is offering low-interest disaster loans with a 12-month deferral period “before payments must be paid.”
No interest will accrue for the first 12 months, giving homeowners, businesses, and nonprofits an extra window of time to make ends meet, according to SBA public information officer Mary Anne Bradfield.
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“You get a 30-year loan, you get that first 12 months for free,” Bradfield told News 6. “That’s a huge benefit to help people because you can go up to $200,000 as a homeowner, $40,000 as a renter and up to $2 million as a business owner.”
Bradfield said the interest rates are extremely low: 3.04% for businesses, 2.118% for homeowners and 1.875% for nonprofits.
“You get that for up to 30 years and 12 months for zero,” Bradfield told News 6. “That would help a lot of people, I hope, get back to living in a safe place.”
Representatives from FEMA, the SBA, and disAbility Solutions for Independent Living will be available to help residents complete or modify their disaster assistance applications and find other available relief resources in the Jesse Stevenson Kovalenko Memorial Gymnasium, 1000 Live Oak St., in New Smyrna Beach on Friday, Dec. 16, from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Also onsite will be a representative to speak about the long term, low interest loans to assist them with the rebuilding process and repairing or replacing uninsured or underinsured disaster damaged property. If qualified, the loan may be used to restore property to its condition before Hurricane Ian.
SBA representatives will accept all required paperwork on site, but FEMA paperwork must be submitted at the Disaster Recovery Center in the Florida Department of Health in Volusia County offices at 1845 Holsenback Drive in Daytona Beach.
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