Hurricane Harvey repairs must be done by end of year to be eligible for reimbursement
Recovery from Hurricane Harvey City of Houston
HOUSTON - Houston homeowners have until Dec. 31, 2019 to make home repairs that could be eligible for reimbursement under the federal Harvey Homeowner Assistance Program (HoAP).
The deadline is set by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The deadline is for the actual repairs to be completed; homeowners can still apply for reimbursement after December 31 for work completed before that date. “If you’ve been putting off repairs of damage caused by Hurricane Harvey, now is the time to make them so that you may be eligible to have federal funds cover some of your costs,” said Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner.
The maximum amount of reimbursement depends on the homeowners’ income: To recover 100% of eligible expenses, a family needs to be below 80% of the AMI - Area Media Income. To recover 50% of eligible expenses a family's income needs to be 81-120% of the AMI - Area Media Income. The chart below explains the household income limits.
The 2019 Houston/TheWoodlands/Sugar Land Region HUD Area Median Income
All homeowners impacted by Hurricane Harvey should take the Harvey Recovery Survey at recovery.houstontx.gov
or by phone at 832-393-0550.
Program representatives are available in multiple languages to take questions and assist Houstonians in taking the survey. The survey takes less than 15 minutes and does not require documentation.
Almost 20,000 residents have taken the Harvey Recovery Survey. As a result, about 5,000 homeowners have been invited to apply to HoAP and are working on an application or have completed their submission.
Seventy-one percent of survey respondents potentially eligible for HoAP are low- to moderate-income as a result of an extensive outreach effort in vulnerable neighborhoods.
Almost $150 million is still available for reimbursements.