Registering with government agencies for disaster assistance can land home owners and renters financial assistance in the form of grants and loans that otherwise might not be available.

• Hurricane-displaced Gulf Coast residents including homeowners and renters, can receive housing assistance beginning with three months paid rent from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The housing grant assistance is available through FEMA's Individual and Households Program (IHP).

• Evacuees who don't qualify for IHP housing assistance, the homeless and others who were receiving housing assistance from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development will qualify for HUD's Hurricane Disaster Housing Assistance Program (DHAP) benefits.

• The Small Business Administration, more often known for its loans to disaster-struck businesses, actually underwrites most of its low-interest loans as Home Disaster Loans (HDLs) for home owners who need to make repairs or rebuild after a disaster. Renters may also be eligible for loans to repair or replace personal property.

In all cases, applicants must register online or by phone with FEMA to establish their eligibility. An estimated 1 million Gulf Coast residents had registered with FEMA for some assistance following Hurricane Katrina and Rita.

• FEMA's IHP offers qualified evacuees an initial three-month rental assistance grant in the form of check or electronic fund transfer for $2,358. The initial payment is based on average $786-per-month fair market rent for a two-bedroom unit nationwide and can be applied to housing costs at they location of the evacuee's choice.

Those who receive payments must comply with the mandated use of the funds, document their use of the funds, say with rental receipts, and they comply with auditing requirements. Future additional assistance could be available on a case-by-case basis.

• HUD's DHAP will be administered through the established network of local public housing authorities (PHAs) nationwide. Eligible individuals and households should contact the local housing authority for a range of housing assistance that can be redeemed for housing units in any community of the displaced resident's choice. Rents will be based on 100 percent of the fair market value of the rents in the community the evacuee chooses.

• SBA's HDLs are available to homeowners in amounts of up to $200,000 to repair or rebuild a primary residence to its condition before the disaster. Renters and home owners can obtain loans for up to $40,000 to replace personal belongings.

The amounts are based on the actual cost of repairing or rebuilding a home and/or replacing personal property, to the extent that the cost is not otherwise covered by insurance or some other compensation.

Loans are secured by the property and typically come with three-year terms, but can have terms of up to 30 years. How low the interest rate goes depends upon the home owner's ability -- or not -- to secure financing elsewhere. For those unable to secure loans, the SBA HDL rate is a fixed 2.687 percent. For those eligible for loans elsewhere, but chooses the SBA loan, the rate is 5.375 percent.

Home owners and renters who don't qualify for SBA loans may be referred to other disaster assistance programs, but must nevertheless complete the SBA loan application before they are referred.

Anyone who needs to tap these resources should first contact FEMA online or call the agency's toll-free registration line at (800) 621-3362; (TTY) (800) 462-7585 for the hearing and speech impaired. Access is available 24-hours.

HUD also has established a toll-free housing hotline for families not eligible for FEMA assistance, (888) 297-8685. This number operates daily, but only from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Central Time.

Published: September 28, 2005

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A journalist for 35-years, Broderick Perkins parlayed an old-school daily newspaper career into a digital news service offering editorial content and consulting services. Perkins' San Jose, CA-based DeadlineNews Group includes the flagship news site, DeadlineNews.Com, offering real estate, personal finance and consumer journalism, and a backshop, the Deadline Newsroom.