Daily Real Estate News  |  September 26, 2005  |   Katrina: Expedited Federal Housing Assistance Set Federal officials have announced an expedited housing assistance program for Katrina's evacuees that will affect apartment owners across the country. Under the program, according to Federal Emergency Management Agency officials, eligible evacuees will be able to get rental assistance either from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development or FEMA for up to the next 18 months. In brief, families who previously lived in public housing or received Section 8 vouchers will not be eligible for FEMA housing assistance but will receive HUD vouchers worth 100 percent of the fair market rent in the community where they relocate. Families eligible for FEMA assistance will get a lump sum check for $2,358 beginning next week to pay for three months of rental assistance. Additional details on each initiative are provided below. FEMA Aid Households who have registered with FEMA and are eligible for assistance and whose house was destroyed or made uninhabitable will receive a lump sum check (or direct deposit) for $2,358 to cover three months of rent. The amount is based on the average $786 fair market rent for Louisiana and Mississippi. Specific program rules and guidelines apply. If participants remain eligible, housing assistance will be available for up to 18 months. After the first three months, the rental subsidy will be adjusted to the fair market rent of the locality where they have relocated. To date, 747,000 households have applied for FEMA assistance. FEMA representatives say they understand that the average fair market rent will be less than is needed to cover rental costs in some areas where families have relocated. However, they say this was "the only equitable way to deliver payments right away," and they stress that the rental amounts will be adjusted after the first three months. FEMA also explains that this is not new assistance. They are simply expediting assistance already available under FEMA's Individual and Households Program (IHP). Specifically, they are eliminating the red tape that families normally have to maneuver through in order to get these payments. Families who have already applied for FEMA assistance will automatically receive checks beginning next week. Those who have not must register with FEMA at (800) 621-FEMA or online at www.fema.gov These payments will count toward the $26,200 maximum possible aid for personal property and housing assistance. FEMA reports it will continue to provide trailers and mobile homes for those households who prefer those. Households who select trailers will not get this three-month payment. (One exception is first responders who have been assigned to the disaster area. Many will be offered trailers, but their families who are located elsewhere will get the rental assistance.) If people choose to leave rental housing for trailers, they will no longer receive financial assistance. Public and Federally Assisted Housing Evacuees who were homeless, lived in public housing, or held Section 8 vouchers and are not eligible for FEMA individual assistance will receive vouchers worth 100 percent of the fair market rent in the community where the evacuee has relocated. These vouchers can be used at any public or private housing community. Households should contact the local housing authority to participate. HUD has established a single toll-free housing hotline for these families at 888/297-8685. This number operates from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. CDT, seven days a week. Evacuees will be given priority for vouchers, HUD says. People coming to a new place will be given top priority over those already on the local waiting list for housing assistance. —National Apartment Association and National Multi Housing Council