With fewer than one in five eligible Vermonters returning their U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) disaster loan applications, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and SBA have teamed with Vermont NeighborWorks organizations to offer more help with the paperwork.
The deadline to return the applications is Nov. 15.
FEMA cannot make grants for personal property (such as furniture or computers), vehicle damage or moving and storage expenses to anyone who was asked to submit an SBA loan application and failed to do so.
To date, SBA has mailed out 4,174 applications to Vermont homeowners and renters who have already received grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help them recover from Tropical Storm Irene. Only 782 have been returned, a rate of just under 19 percent.
Anyone who received two months of rental assistance from FEMA and needs continuing rental assistance must contact FEMA to be recertified.
If you already told FEMA that you didn't need rental assistance, but your circumstances have changed – for example, you can no longer stay with family or friends, or your primary residences is still not habitable – you can call FEMA's registration number to request it.
Submitting disaster loan application from the U.S. Small Business Administration is critical to full federal aid. No one is required to take out a loan, but completing the application may lead to federal grants.
Register online any time at DisasterAssistance.gov; or call 800-621-FEMA (3362) or TTY at 800-462-7585. Users of Video Relay Service (VRS) may call 800-621-3362. Phone lines are staffed 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week, until further notice. If needed, multilingual specialists are available. By Smartphone or tablet, use m.fema.gov.