WASHINGTON
– New York businesses and residents affected by a fire that destroyed multiple apartment buildings and damaged several businesses in Brooklyn, on March 29, can apply for low-interest disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration, SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet announced today.
Administrator Contreras-Sweet made the loans available in response to a letter from Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on April 29, requesting a disaster declaration by the SBA. The declaration covers Kings County and the adjacent counties of New York, Queens and Richmond in
New York
.
“The SBA is strongly committed to providing the people of
New York
with the most effective and customer-focused response possible to assist businesses of all sizes, homeowners and renters with federal disaster loans,” said Administrator Contreras-Sweet. “Getting businesses and communities up and running after a disaster is our highest priority at SBA.”
SBA’s customer service representatives will be available at the Disaster Loan Outreach Center to answer questions about the disaster loan program and help individuals complete their applications. The Center is located in the following community and is open as indicated:
Kings County
NYPD Patrol Borough Brooklyn North
179 Wilson Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11237
Opening:
Tuesday, May 17 at 11 a.m.
Hours:
9 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays
Saturday, May 21 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Closed:
Sunday, May 22
Closing:
Thursday, May 26 at 3 p.m.
“Businesses and nonprofit organizations may borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory, and other business assets,” said Beth Goldberg, SBA’s district director in New York.
For small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small aquaculture businesses and most private nonprofit organizations, the SBA offers Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL)’s to help meet working capital needs caused by the disaster. EIDL assistance is available regardless of whether the business suffered any physical property damage.
“Loans up to $200,000 are available to homeowners to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate. Homeowners and renters are eligible for loans up to $40,000 to repair or replace damaged or destroyed personal property,” said Frank Skaggs, director of SBA’s Field Operations Center East in Atlanta.
Interest rates are as low as 4 percent for businesses, 2.625 percent for nonprofit organizations, and 1.813 percent for homeowners and renters with terms up to 30 years. Loan amount and terms are set by the SBA and are based on each applicant’s financial condition.
Applicants may be eligible for a loan amount increase up to 20 percent of their physical damages, as verified by the SBA for mitigation purposes. Eligible mitigation improvements may now include a safe room or storm shelter to help protect property and occupants from future damage caused by a similar disaster.
Applicants may apply online using the Electronic Loan Application (ELA) via SBA’s secure website at
https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela
.
Businesses and individuals may also obtain information and loan applications by calling the SBA’s Customer Service Center at 1-800-659-2955 (1-800-877-8339 for the deaf and hard-of-hearing), or by emailing
disastercustomerservice@sba.gov
. Loan applications can also be downloaded at
www.sba.gov/disaster
. Completed applications should be returned to the center or 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
July 11, 2016
. The deadline to return economic injury applications is
Feb. 10, 2017
.