NLIHC, the New Jersey Resource Project, and nine other New Jersey-based organizations sent a follow-up letter to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on June 19 requesting the agency address its failure to make Continued Rental Assistance available to survivors of Hurricane Ida in New Jersey. While nearly 45,000 people were deemed eligible under FEMA’s Individual Assistance program, fewer than 300 survivors received rental assistance for longer than two months, known as “Continued Rental Assistance.”
Continued Rental Assistance is available to disaster survivors who remain without housing after two initial months of assistance because affordable rental housing remains unavailable to renters in a disaster-impacted area, or because repairs on disaster-damaged homes remain in progress. In order to apply for Continued Rental Assistance, disaster survivors must submit an additional application form and evidence that their disaster-damaged residence or affordable rental housing is unavailable. While FEMA has historically interpreted its policy regarding Continued Rental Assistance very stringently to prevent survivors from receiving this form of assistance, the approval numbers in New Jersey are exceptionally low. As a result, families impacted by Hurricane Ida have struggled to find affordable housing. Many homeowners have faced a choice between remaining in homes left uninhabitable after Ida or attempting to pay both rent and their mortgage simultaneously. This continues to result in displacement, extreme housing cost burdens, and in the worst cases homelessness.
A previous letter to FEMA about the issue from the same organizations was sent on December 2, 2022; they have not received a response. That letter requested the agency reopen the Individuals and Households Program (IHP) applications for families wishing to apply for Continued Rental Assistance or provide retroactive assistance from the point of eligibility in cases in which a household was unjustly denied Continued Rental Assistance. The lack of assistance from FEMA impacts the availability of HUD long-term recovery funds, which have begun to reach disaster survivors. Those with outstanding financial issues created by the disaster and lack of FEMA assistance must now rely on HUD-funded programs designed to serve those with the lowest incomes – reducing the range and reach of the HUD-funded programs.
You can read the June 19, 2023 letter at: https://bit.ly/42VyU0g
You can read the December 2, 2022 letter at: https://bit.ly/3FiWrjj