When will you be able to claim a $10,000 state grant to harden your home against hurricanes? here’s what we know
Florida residents will soon be eligible for up to $10,000 in state grants for home hardening projects like roof reinforcement and garage door replacements.
A comprehensive insurance bill enacted by the state legislature and government during last week’s special legislative session on property insurance included a $150 million revival of My Safe Florida Home, a 16-year-old program.
The program will provide $115 million in two-to-one grant funding — meaning that qualified homeowners can get $2 back for every $1 they spend on improvements that protect against damage from hurricane-force winds. To strengthen the house.
Because funding is limited, homeowners who want to participate are now looking for ways to get in line so they can be among the first recipients. If all participants qualify for a maximum grant of $10,000, only 11,500 homeowners will qualify. This number depends on how many applicants qualify for grants under $10,000.
While the Department of Financial Services, which will run the program, expects grants to be given on a first-come, first-served basis, homeowners will have to wait for the department to develop application processes and eligibility requirements, said department spokesman Devin Galetta. Said in an email.
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Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis is working to establish the program “as quickly and efficiently as possible, to allow homeowners to harden off their homes against hurricanes,” Galetta said. Once the program begins, eligible homeowners will be able to combine matching grant benefits with sales tax exemptions for hurricane-resistant windows, exterior doors and garage doors that will be effective for two years beginning July 1.
Galeta said homeowners will begin the process by scheduling a hurricane mitigation inspection to identify improvements that will protect their homes from hurricane-force winds and qualify them for the maximum available insurance discount.
“We’ll clarify as the program stands” [grant] Eligibility requirements as per the insured value of the home, location, prior inspection history and strict requirements of the home,” said Galetta.
It is not yet known which reforms will be eligible for grant funding. The original version of the program, which operated from 2006 to 2008, limited funding for specific needs such as roof deck enclosure, secondary water barrier, roof covering, reinforcement for roof-to-wall connections, opening protection and exterior doors, garage doors. including.
But with more funding available, it is possible that the list of worthy improvements will be expanded as well.
Patronis has been empowered to develop the program as part of the state’s emergency rule-making process, which would allow the department to bypass requirements that could delay launches until hurricane season. Galeta did not anticipate a launch date for the program.
The language in the law sets the basic parameters of the program. Much of that language is unchanged from the time the program was originally authorized. to qualify:
- Eligible properties must be located in a “wind-borne debris area” as defined under the Florida Building Code. It primarily refers to the state’s coastal areas that are susceptible to hurricane-force winds of 120 or more mph. In South Florida, all are in this area except for Broward and Miami-Dade counties and the westernmost area of Palm Beach County.
- The replacement value of homes must be $500,000 or less, instead of the original $300,000 limit.
- Eligible applicants will be eligible for up to $10,000 instead of the original $5,000 limit.
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- The $2 award for every $1 spent by the homeowners will replace the original matching $1 per $1 spent.
- The properties should be of the householder. No second home or investor-owned property is eligible.
- Eligible homes must be initially permitted for construction before January 1, 2008.
According to published reports, the original $250 million version of the program funded 400,000 inspections and nearly 39,000 home improvement grants.
But the program was corrupted by reports of contractors failing to complete jobs and doing shoddy work and inspectors submitting bogus reports only to collect payments from the state. It was also slow to gain traction during its first year, leaving applications backlogged for months and some homeowners waiting up to a year to get reimbursed.
After the 2008 housing market crash, many applicants who were approved for grant funding ended their grants because they could not pay their share of the project cost. In 2009, the Legislature refused to provide funding to expand the program.
Sponsors of the bill, which came out of the House and Senate last week, pledged that the Department of Financial Services will monitor participating contractors and inspectors more closely and do a better job this time at preventing fraud.
“We will research the past program and apply the lessons learned to reduce fraud and streamline implementation of the program,” Galetta said.
Critics in the legislature will be watching the rollout closely. Orlando-area Democrat Representative Anna Escamani asked the department to confirm that only qualified, credible home inspectors are hired. “Fraud prevention will be key here, because we don’t want Floridians to get the wrong oversight.”
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Michael Berman, owner of Barrman Home Inspection in Spring Hill, reviewed the inspections for the state during the first iteration of the program. He said that earlier ineligible people working desk jobs in insurance companies were being certified to conduct home inspections.
“Then they would run around and do 20 jobs a day,” he said. “If the homeowner was not at home, they would have falsified a report, took a photo of the house, submitted it, and paid.”
Eskamani wants to remove the replacement price limit of $500,000 and open up eligibility beyond the wind-borne debris field.
He also urged the department to ensure that the home owners can apply with the paper form over the phone or at the physical location. “far too many Florida programs are only available to people who are tech savvy, who don’t have computer access or who aren’t computer fluent who are struggling to apply and participate,” she said. .
Berman, who served on Hernando County’s housing authority, said the money could be put to better use by allocating it to local governments and letting them determine what is worth the most.
As an example, he cites the discovery of at least 500 homes built several decades ago, with only two nails holding the metal storm truss straps to the frame of the house. Two spikes per strap protect the roof from being lifted in winds of up to 90 mph.
Berman said three screws increase the safety to 120 mph—and that saves the homeowner $300 to $500.
The housing authority found a way to tap into its available State Housing Initiative Partnership Program (SHIP) funds that could be used to provide a variety of assistance for low-income home buyers and homeowners, creating a program that That added a third spike to low-income residents’ storm surge bars, Berman said.
“It was a win-win-win. They have got a safe home. It made the neighbors safer. Plus it gave them an insurance discount,” he said. “The closer you get to the community, the more decision-makers you get. The only way to know is what the community needs.”
Ron Hurtibis covers business and consumer issues for the South Florida Sun Sentinel. He can be contacted by phone at , on Twitter @ronhurtibise or by email at
