NLIHC and almost 30 other national organizations sent a letter to congressional leaders on March 1 urging them to include the “Housing Survivors of Major Disasters Act” in any upcoming appropriation bill or other piece of must-pass legislation. The legislation would address significant title-documentation challenges that have resulted in thousands of eligible disaster survivors being wrongfully denied Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) assistance.
The bill, which was written with input from NLIHC’s Disaster Housing Recovery Coalition, was introduced by Representative Adriano Espaillat (D-NJ) and Resident Commissioner Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon (R-PR) and supported in the Senate by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). It was unanimously approved by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in 2021.
For many years, FEMA has denied assistance to eligible disaster survivors unable to present property titles, written leases, or other similar documents to show residency and occupancy of disaster-damaged property. In areas where mobile homes and alternative property ownership methods are prevalent – such as Puerto Rico, the Gulf Coast, Northern California, and the Pacific Northwest – title documentation requirements can result in disaster survivors being prevented from accessing aid. The Housing Survivors of Major Disasters Act would make it easier for disaster survivors to prove residency in disaster-impacted areas or ownership of a disaster-damaged home through a “declarative statement” form attesting to their ownership of the property, or through the submission of utility bills, credit card statements, pay stubs, and school registrations. These changes would ensure that disaster survivors with low incomes would be able to access the assistance they need without being forced to endure lengthy and complicated title clearing processes or go without much-needed assistance.
FEMA addressed some of these long-standing barriers in reforms announced by the agency in 2021. The Housing Survivors of Major Disasters Act would both cement these changes in statute and broaden the types of documentation accepted by FEMA for establishing ownership of disaster-damaged homes. The bill would also make these changes retroactive, allowing those denied assistance after recent disasters the opportunity to arrange for a re-examination of their assistance applications by the agency under the provisions of the new rule.
Read the text of the letter here.
Read the text of the “Housing Survivors of Major Disasters Act” at: https://bit.ly/3IS2cDR