Minnesota Housing Offers Help for Flood-Affected Homeowners

SAINT PAUL, MN (10/21/2010)(readMedia)-- Minnesota Housing is now offering financial assistance for homeowners in southern Minnesota areas affected by the recent flood who are not eligible for federal assistance or need additional assistance. Funding in the amount of $4 million was secured for the Quick Start Disaster Recovery Program through the special legislative session on Monday.

"Our Quick Start Disaster Recovery Program is a valuable resource for Minnesotans affected by the recent flooding," said Dan Bartholomay, Minnesota Housing Commissioner. "I want to make sure that people know that there is assistance available for homeowners despite the fact that no individual assistance declaration was made by FEMA."

In order to qualify for the program, homeowners affected by the flood must first register with Small Business Administration (SBA) by calling 1-800-659-2955 or visit www.sba.gov. If SBA assistance is insufficient or unavailable, homeowners can then apply for a Quick Start loan. Quick Start helps homeowners who are unable to repair or rebuild their homes due to flood damage expenses that exceed private insurance and SBA assistance. The program provides no-interest loans of up to $30,000 for home repair and is forgiven if the owner remains in the home for 10 years.

In addition to providing outreach in communities affected by the flood to create awareness about the availability of Quick Start funds, Minnesota Housing will also work directly with SBA to contact individual homeowners by mail that were declined by SBA, but may be eligible for Quick Start.

Minnesota Housing has contracted with local administrators to deliver the program and work with homeowners to complete Quick Start applications. Homeowners needing assistance should contact administrators directly in the following counties:

See the Quick Start fact sheet at www.mnhousing.gov for more details.

It is important to note that Minnesota Housing is not a first responder and is only able to provide Quick Start assistance to homeowners who have already submitted SBA applications and have been declined or provided insufficient funding.

Minnesota Housing finances and advances affordable housing opportunities for low and moderate income Minnesotans to enhance quality of life and foster strong communities. Minnesota Housing invests more than $1.4 billion in affordable housing each biennium. If it were ranked among metro commercial banks, it would be the sixth largest bank, with total Agency-wide assets of $3.6 billion as of June 30, 2010. For more information, please visit www.mnhousing.gov.

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