Additional Updates on Disaster Housing Recovery – April 9

The following is a review of additional housing recovery developments related to Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, and the California wildfires since last week’s Memo to Members and Partners (for the article in last week’s Memo, see 4/2). NLIHC also posts this information at our On the Home Front blog.

General Updates

OMB Director Mick Mulvaney issued a memo with guidance for agencies regarding the implementation of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 as it relates to emergency supplemental appropriations. Among other issues, the memo calls for agencies to ensure that “grantees expend all awarded disaster relief funds within the 24-month period following the agency’s obligation of those funds, unless waived by OMB.”


Hurricane Maria

FEMA

FEMA is seeking landlords in Puerto Rico to participate in the Direct Lease and Multi-Family Lease and Repair programs. FEMA pays participating landlords directly to help provide homes for displaced survivors.


Hurricane Irma

Local Perspectives

The Heart of Florida United Way has launched a new housing assistance program for displaced Hurricane Maria survivors. The program is limited to assisting those whose homes in Puerto Rico were declared uninhabitable by FEMA and who are working.

The Florida Housing Finance Corporation announced that funding from the State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) program will soon be allocated to local governments hardest hit by Hurricane Irma. The funds will assist income-qualified households in need of repairs to their homes, including evacuees from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands living in Florida.


Hurricane Harvey

Local Perspective

The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas published a report about the redevelopment of public housing following Hurricane Ike in September 2008. Ten years later, the continuing hardships experienced by affected communities could offer lessons for Hurricane Harvey recovery.