LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Federal Emergency Management Agency is making rental resources available to eligible survivors of the Valley fire.
More than 1,300 homes were destroyed in the 76,067-acre fire, displacing thousands of south county residents.
FEMA spokesman Steve Solomon told Lake County News that the latest available figures through Tuesday showed that FEMA is providing financial rental assistance to 568 Lake County households.
He said that, early on, available rental resources within the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development fair market rate were scarce.
In response, he said FEMA approved a 125-percent waiver above the HUD fair market rate, resulting in an increase in available rental resource options.
Solomon said FEMA is contacting rental applicants eligible for financial rental resources– who registered for FEMA assistance by the Nov. 23 deadline – to let them know of the waiver and the resulting increase in available rentals.
“FEMA has identified multiple rental resources in Lake County within a reasonable distance from the disaster-affected areas,” he said.
The rentals, which are privately and not government-owned, are available on a first-come, first-served basis, Solomon said.
“There is currently no waiting list,” Solomon added.
“The number of rentals, in our portal, changes daily,” he said, noting that on Tuesday there were 45, which dropped to 25 on Wednesday.
The assistance in finding and paying for rentals is a different FEMA program than that which offers mobile housing units, which Solomon said are a last resort.
There are currently four of those fully furnished units installed on private property in Lake County and being inhabited by local families, Solomon said.
FEMA has 13 pads leased at Lake Village Estates, but manufactured housing units aren't in place on those pads yet, according to Solomon.
Survivors who need temporary housing assistance are urged to contact FEMA at 800-621-FEMA (3362).
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FEMA offers rental help for wildfire survivors
- Elizabeth Larson
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