Florida businesses, private nonprofit organizations, homeowners and renters have until June 6 to submit low-interest disaster loan applications for physical damage caused by severe storms and tornadoes on Feb. 15 or Feb. 23-24.
Low-interest disaster loans are available in Escambia County; Santa Rosa in Florida; and Baldwin and Escambia in Alabama.
Businesses and nonprofits may borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory and other business assets. For small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small aquaculture businesses and private, nonprofit organizations, the SBA offers Economic Injury Disaster Loans to help meet working capital needs caused by the disaster.
Loans up to $200,000 are available to homeowners to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate. Homeowners and renters are eligible for loans up to $40,000 to repair or replace damaged or destroyed personal property.
Interest rates are as low as 4 percent for businesses, 2.625 percent for nonprofit organizations, and 1.813 percent for homeowners and renters, with terms up to 30 years. The SBA sets loan amounts and terms, based on each applicant’s financial condition.
Applicants may be eligible for a loan amount increase up to 20 percent of their physical damage, as verified by the SBA for mitigation purposes. Eligible mitigation improvements may now include a safe room or storm shelter to help protect property and occupants from future damage caused by a similar disaster.
To apply, use the Electronic Loan Application on SBA’s secure website, https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela; call the SBA’s Customer Service Center at 1-800-659-2955 (1-800-877-8339 for the deaf and hard-of-hearing); or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.
You also can download applications at www.sba.gov/disaster. Mail them to: U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155.
The filing deadline to return applications for physical property damage is June 6, 2016. The deadline to return economic injury applications is Jan. 9, 2017.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Disaster loan deadline for businesses, nonprofits, homeowners and renters is June 6