Florida businesses and residents affected by severe storms and flooding from June 11 to 14 are eligible for low-interest disaster loans, announced SBA Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman. The announcement follows a request from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on June 28 for an SBA disaster declaration.
The disaster declaration includes Broward and Miami-Dade counties, along with adjacent counties Collier, Hendry, Monroe, and Palm Beach. "The SBA is strongly committed to providing the people of Florida with the most effective and customer-focused response possible to assist businesses of all sizes, homeowners, and renters with federal disaster loans," said Guzman. "Getting businesses and communities up and running after a disaster is our highest priority at SBA."
Three Disaster Loan Outreach Centers (DLOCs) will be established in Broward County's Oak Lake Community Center in Hollywood, Miami-Dade County's Northeast-Dade Aventura Branch Library in Aventura, and North Dade Regional Library in Miami Gardens to aid applicants.
Businesses can borrow up to $2 million for repairing or replacing damaged real estate, machinery, equipment, inventory, and other assets. Small businesses and nonprofits may also apply for Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) regardless of physical property damage. Homeowners can borrow up to $500,000 for real estate repairs or replacement while renters are eligible for loans up to $100,000 for personal property.
Eligible applicants may increase their loan amount by up to 20% of verified physical damages for mitigation purposes such as safe rooms or storm shelters. "The opportunity to include measures to help prevent future damage from occurring is a significant benefit of SBA’s disaster loan program," stated Francisco Sánchez Jr., associate administrator for the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience at the SBA.
Interest rates are set at 4% for businesses, 3.25% for nonprofit organizations, and 2.688% for homeowners and renters with terms up to 30 years. Interest does not accrue nor are payments due until one year after initial disbursement.
Applications can be submitted online at sba.gov/disaster or by contacting SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or via email at disastercustomerservice@sba.gov. For telecommunications relay services dial 7-1-1. The filing deadline for physical property damage applications is August 30, 2024; economic injury applications must be returned by April 1, 2025.
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