FEMA Reminds Landlords to Register Rental Resources 

Displaced residents should search database for available rental units

Release Date: February 20, 2008
Release Number: 1603-770

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NEW ORLEANS, La. -- The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) continues to search for housing throughout Louisiana to help families transition from travel trailers to more suitable housing.

Over 24,820 households affected by Katrina and Rita within Louisiana continue to reside in FEMA travel trailers and mobile homes. More than 10,000 FEMA temporary housing residents were Louisiana renters prior to the disaster and will likely return to a rental unit.

FEMA encourages both landlords with available rental property and displaced applicants looking for housing to call the FEMA Louisiana Rental Resources Department at 1-888-294-2822. FEMA representatives are available from Monday to Saturday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. to assist callers with listing their available rentals or with locating affordable rentals near school or work.

Landlords and applicants may also call the national FEMA Helpline at 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) or TTY 1-800-462-7585 for the speech or hearing-impaired, from Monday to Saturday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Spanish translators are available.

People with Internet access can search rental properties at https://asd.fema.gov/inter/hportal/home.htm, a consolidated database of all rentals located by FEMA; www.lahousingsearch.org, a housing site maintained by the state of Louisiana or https://hudapps.hud.gov/nhls/, a site maintained by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Web sites are updated continuously, so applicants should check back often.

Landlords calling to register their properties should be prepared to answer a few basic questions related to their rental unit, such as type of dwelling, number of bedrooms and baths, handicapped accessibility, pet policy, monthly rental amount and other items of interest to renters.

FEMA coordinates the federal government's role in preparing for, preventing, mitigating the effects of, responding to and recovering from all domestic disasters, whether natural or man-made, including acts of terror. 

Last Modified: Wednesday, 20-Feb-2008 11:23:19