NE Florida News

The Small Business Administration (SBA) Information Session originally scheduled for Monday (2/13) at 5:30 pm in the City of Flagler Commission Chambers is being cancelled. If you are interested in learning more about how SBA can assist people that were impacted by Hurricane Nicole, please contact Tracy Callahan-Hennessey at 386-233-4875 by Monday (2/13). 

Information on the Small Business Administration (SBA): 

The Small Business Administration (SBA) wants to help those affected by disasters such as Hurricanes Ian and Nicole. SBA offers low-interest, long-term loans to homeowners, renters, businesses and non-profits, to cover any damage not covered by insurance or another source.

Homeowners can get loans up to $200,000 to repair uninsured damage to their home, and homeowners and renters can get up to $40,000 for damage to personal property. Businesses can get up to $2 million for physical damage and economic injury.

There is No Cost to apply, and No Interest or Payments for the first year of the loan.

After the first year, the interest rate for Hurricane Nicole is as low as 2.3% for homeowners and renters, and as low as 3.3% for businesses.

 If you are offered a loan, you have 2 months to decide whether you want to accept it or not, and there is no penalty to decline the loan offer. Keep your options open, apply now before the deadline of February 13th, and decide later. 

Even if you have insurance, you can get a low-interest SBA loan to cover the cost of your deductible.  And you can also request an additional 20% of the Total estimated damage, to use for mitigation to prevent future damage—for storm shutters, stronger shingles, or a retaining wall to mitigate flooding, for example.

Loans up to $25K do not require collateral. And there are no pre-payment penalties, so you can pay off the loan early and really reduce your interest.

If an insurance settlement is delayed a long time, an SBA loan can be used to begin repairs to a home or business, with part of the insurance money going to repay the SBA loan, once it is received. 

Even if a small business or nonprofit does not have any physical damage, it can apply for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan if it had a drop in sales after Hurricane Ian or Nicole. These economic injury loans provide working capital to cover normal business expenses such as salaries, rent, utilities, fixed debt payments, etc. to keep a business going until their sales return to normal. [And the Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) are not only available in the Nicole declared counties of St. Johns, Putnam, Flagler, Volusia, Brevard and Lake, but also in adjacent counties, such as Duval and Clay.] The deadlines for Economic Injury Disaster Loans are June 29, 2023 for Ian, and September 23, 2023 for Nicole. 

Only one’s primary residence is eligible for a home damage loan, but if someone earns rental income from a secondary home in a declared county and pays taxes on that rental income, they can apply for a business disaster loan for physical damage or an economic injury loan to help with a significant interruption in business rental income. The business loans are as low as 3.3% interest, with no payments or interest for the first year. 

[If a homeowner or renter registers with FEMA and is referred to the SBA, it is important to follow up and apply for an SBA loan to keep one’s options open, even if you don’t want a loan. If offered, can easily decline without penalty, and have 2 months to decide if you want the loan. If declined, could be referred back to FEMA for possible additional assistance.] 

You can apply online at: www.disasterloan.sba.gov or call 1-800-659-2955 to ask for a paper application or to check your status.

Or you can visit one of the Disaster Recovery Centers, with FEMA and SBA staff, or one of the SBA Business Recovery Centers, which is available to homeowners, renters, businesses and nonprofits.

Disaster Recovery Center: 1845 Holsonback Drive, Daytona Beach, at Volusia Health Center.  Mon-Sat: 9-6.

SBA Business Recovery Center: 105 Jackie Robinson Parkway, on City Island, Daytona Beach, at the regional library. Mon-Thurs: 9-6;  Fri-Sat: 9-5.

***If anyone with physical damage to their home, personal property or business from Hurricane Nicole has not yet applied, Do Not miss your opportunity for federal assistance.

Nicole Deadline is February 13, 2023. With a 15-day grace period, February 28th is the ultimate deadline to apply.

Original source can be found here.