The Tribune Staff Reports
The U.S. Small Business Administration is reminding businesses of all sizes, private nonprofit organizations, homeowners and renters to apply for a disaster loan for physical damage before the Sept. 3 deadline.
Anyone in the declared counties in Indiana with damages caused by tornadoes, high winds and severe storms June 15, 16 and 17 should apply for the SBA disaster loan assistance. That includes Jackson, Monroe, Brown, Greene, Lawrence, Morgan and Owen counties.
Businesses and nonprofits can apply for up to $2 million to repair or replace disaster-damaged real estate, machinery, equipment, inventory and other business assets. Loans for working capital, known as economic injury disaster loans, are available even if the business did not suffer any physical damage.
Homeowners can apply for up to $200,000 to repair or replace disaster-damaged real estate. Homeowners and renters can apply for up to $40,000 to repair or replace damaged personal property, including automobiles.
Interest rates are as low as 4% for businesses, 2.75% for private nonprofit organizations and and 1.938% for homeowners and renters with terms up to 30 years. The SBA determines loan amounts and terms based on each applicant’s circumstances.
Applicants may be eligible for a loan amount increase up to 20% of their physical damages as verified by the SBA for mitigation purposes. Eligible mitigation improvements may include a safe room or storm shelter, sump pump, French drain or retaining wall to help protect property and occupants from future damage caused by a similar disaster.
Applicants may apply online using the electronic loan application at disasterloan.sba.gov.
Additional details on the loan application process can be obtained by calling the SBA customer service center at 800-659-2955 (800-877-8339 for the deaf and hard-of-hearing) or by emailing disastercustomer [email protected]. Loan applications also can be downloaded at sba.gov.
Completed applications should be mailed 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 Sept. 3. The deadline to return economic injury applications is April 3, 2020.