Victims of Hurricane Irma are eligible for a range of public and private aid programs. This includes everything from delayed foreclosures, tax extensions, waived credit card fees and any data overages incurred on cell phones.
FEMA’s Transitional Sheltering Assistance is available to eligible survivors in Florida who are unable to return to their primary residence due to their home being uninhabitable or inaccessible. If you are eligible for Transitional Sheltering Assistance, FEMA will pay for the cost to stay in certain hotels or motels for a limited period of time.
Here are some additional assistance programs you may qualify for:
- FEMA’s Individuals and Households Program offers financial help with medical, dental, child care, funeral, personal property and transportation expenses. This program also provides funds for temporary housing, repairs and construction. For more details call: 800-621-3362.
- Disaster Unemployment Assistance provides unemployment benefits and re-employment services to people who lost their jobs because of the hurricane, but who are not eligible for state unemployment benefits. For more details call: 800-621-3362.
- In partnership with the Young Lawyers Division of the American Bar Association, FEMA provides free legal help to low-income disaster survivors who need assistance filing their storm-related complaints. For more details call: 800-621-3362.
- JPMorgan Chase will waive or refund late fees on mortgages, credit cards and auto loans through September 24. It will also waive overdraft and service fees. For more details call: 1-888-346-0023.
- HUD recently granted a 90-day suspension on foreclosures for mortgages backed by the Federal Housing Administration. There are more than 280,000 FHA-insured Florida homeowners living in these impacted counties. For more details call: 1-800-569-4287.
- For homeowners or renters who have lost their homes, HUD’s Section 203(h) program gives FHA insurance to disaster victims who have to rebuild or purchase another house. The loans come with no down payment and greater forgiveness of low credit scores. For more details call: 1-800-569-4287.
- The IRS has extended a deadline for certain individual and business filings until Jan. 31, 2018. This includes an additional filing extension for taxpayers with valid extensions that expire October 16. So taxpayers in the region have until Jan. 31 to file returns and pay any taxes that had been due as of September 4. This includes deadlines for quarterly payments. For individual tax filers, it also includes 2016 income tax returns that got an extension until October 16.
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We hope and pray you and your family made it through the storm safely and our community is quickly restored. During this time of recovery, our office is open and we are here if you need us. If you have any questions on this topic or are in financial crisis and considering filing for bankruptcy, contact an experienced Miami bankruptcy attorney who can advise you of all of your options. As an experienced CPA as well as a proven bankruptcy lawyer, Timothy Kingcade knows how to help clients take full advantage of the bankruptcy laws to protect their assets and get successful results. Since 1996 Kingcade & Garcia, P.A. has been helping people from all walks of life build a better tomorrow. Our attorneys’ help thousands of people every year take advantage of their rights under bankruptcy protection to restart, rebuild and recover. The day you hire our firm, we will contact your creditors to stop the harassment. You can also find useful consumer information on the Kingcade & Garcia website at www.miamibankruptcy.com.