Issue link: http://dsnews.uberflip.com/i/1109134
ยป VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM 85 ALABAMA HUD Offers Foreclosure Relief to Tornado Victims e U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will provide foreclosure relief for the victims of Alabama's deadly tornados that occurred in February this year. Homeowners who are at risk of losing their properties because of the disaster may be able to avoid the initiation of foreclosure for 90 days under this protection with additional protection made available for low-income renters as well. A few of the key things HUD offers those covered are immediate foreclosure relief or an automatic 90-day moratorium on foreclosures of Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-insured home mortgages commenced for the counties covered under the announcement. In addition, it makes mortgage insurance available to disaster victims whose homes were destroyed or damaged beyond repair. Also, HUD's Section 203(k) loan program enables those who have lost their homes to finance the purchase or refinance a house along with its repair through a single mortgage. Homeowners who have damaged houses can also finance the rehabilitation of their existing single-family home. In an effort to get help to those who need it, HUD said that it would share this information with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the State on housing providers that may have available units in the impacted counties. is includes Public Housing Agencies and Multi-Family owners. e Department will also connect FEMA and the State to subject matter experts to provide information on HUD programs and providers. e announcement came shortly after HUD announced its approval of the U.S. Virgin Island's latest disaster recovery action plan, which will invest an additional $779 million to help the island continue to rebuild from Hurricanes Maria and Irma. HUD had also announced the approval of Puerto Rico's latest disaster recovery plan as well as the disbursement of $8.2 billion as part of the grant made available to the island's recovery by Congress in 2018. Similar to funds allocated to the Virgin Islands, these also came with stringent HUD oversight. e heightened scrutiny of how these funds are spent in Puerto Rico's recovery include enhanced monitoring of expenses as well as other measures designed to ensure Puerto Rico's legal and prudent use of the funds, HUD said in its statement. "is is an unprecedented investment and since Puerto Rico has a history of fiscal malfeasance, we are putting additional financial controls in place to ensure this disaster recovery money is spent properly," HUD Secretary Ben Carson said. "With stringent HUD oversight, these dollars should have a real, lasting impact on Puerto Rico and help our fellow citizens who are struggling to recover from these devastating storms." On its part, Puerto Rico has said that it will address the "urgent humanitarian needs" of the island's residents while "also developing and implementing a transformative recovery." e amended action plan submitted by the island includes an analysis of early damage estimates and gives details about an initial program design to address the island's recovery with the first tranche of $1.5 billion that was approved by HUD as well as the additional $8.2 billion.