FEMA May Provide Residents Continued Temporary Rental Assistance if Needed

Puerto Rico residents who received temporary rental assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) after Hurricane Fiona may be eligible to continue receiving this benefit, if they can demonstrate an ongoing need for rental assistance and meet program qualifications.

To qualify for this benefit, survivors must have received initial rental assistance, show they still have disaster-related financial needs and show they are working on a permanent housing plan that provides safe, sanitary and functional housing, within a reasonable time frame. Also, survivors must demonstrate they are unable to return to their pre-disaster residence because it is uninhabitable, inaccessible, or not available due to disaster damage.

Eligible survivors may apply for continued rental assistance by providing:

• A copy of their current lease;

• receipts showing the proper use of federal disaster housing assistance;

• current household income status; and

• post-disaster housing costs.

To apply for continued rental assistance, survivors can call FEMA’s Helpline at 1-800-621-3362, from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. local time, seven days a week. Those who use a relay service, such as video relay service (VRS), captioned telephone service or others, must give FEMA the number for that service. Survivors can also visit disasterassistance.gov or download the FEMA app.

Extensions on rental assistance run for three-month periods, up to a maximum of 18 months from the date of the presidential disaster declaration for Hurricane Fiona, which is September 21, 2022.

Original source can be found here