Flood victims in Davidson County may be eligible for additional low-interest loans and even $10,000 grants. Flood recovery officials want to provide extra help for homeowners who have gotten money from FEMA but still can’t afford to rebuild.
So far, more than 2,000 home owners have gotten permits to rebuild, but that doesn’t mean they have the money to get the job done. Loretta Owens oversees housing issues on Metro’s flood recovery team.
“I know we’re talking to people every day who are saying ‘I don’t know where I’m going to get the money to do that. These were already tough economic times.’ But it’s really in all of our best interest to help them get that done.”
Most of the nearly 10,000 homes that were flooded won’t be offered a buyout, so Owens says they should move ahead with the rebuilding process. She hopes to begin taking applications for the so-called “gap financing” program in the next two weeks.
The fund is expected to make $50 million available through a mixture of low-interest loans and grants. However, most of the money comes from the federal government and has not yet been approved by congress.
Final details of the gap financing program haven’t been worked out, but it doesn’t appear the grants would be available retroactively.
Metro Councilman Charlie Tygard says the money sends mixed signals and leaves flood victims unsure of how fast to move ahead with rebuilding. :
“Part of us are telling these folks ‘go ahead and proceed,’ but the other half is ‘no, there may be a $10,000 grant or something else out there for you. But we don’t want you to go ahead and rebuild till we find out, and that’s the frustration out there.”
Flood recovery officials believe roughly 8,000 homeowners will be able to finance repairs on their own. That still leaves 2,000 households in need of additional help.
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