To all USDA Rural Development customers affected by Hurricane Katrina, we know this is a difficult time. Please call us for help -- we can help people with damaged homes that need rehabilitation and repair. We can also help you manage payments on existing loans or get new loans for needed repairs.

Residents living in Rural Development-financed apartments who have been displaced are qualified to receive priority admission to any of our vacant apartment units in the U.S. Please contact us so that we can help you get shelter.

Call:  1-800-414-1226 (toll-free)        Alabama RD Contacts  |  Louisiana RD Contacts  |  Mississippi RD Contacts
                                                             Texas RD Contacts  |  Florida RD Contacts  |  List of Apartment Complexes
                                                             Katrina Disaster Recovery Guide (PDF)

For Homeownership Loan Borrowers  |  For Apartment Residents  |  For Multi-Family Property Managers and Owners  |  For Community Facility Property Owners  |  For Intermediary Relending Program Participants  |  For Water and Waste Disposal Program Participants  |  For Employees

USDA Katrina Information Page  |  Katrina Press Releases  |  Katrina Administrative Notices For Employees  |  Other Resources  |  Main Disaster Resources Page

Status of homes at risk:

• USDA has 50,000 low-income direct loan borrowers in the three-state area.
• Approximately another 30,000 recipients of guaranteed loans.
• Approximately 10,000 lower-income families are in coastal areas; displacement is widespread.

Immediate assistance Rural Development is providing:

• Calls are underway to all borrowers we can reach, offering help their loans and coordination with insurance companies
• Letters have gone out offering direct loan borrowers a "no-questions-asked" moratorium on mortgage payments.
• Letters have gone out to guaranteed lenders asking them to cease any liquidation actions and offer payment forbearance.

For Apartment Residents

An individual or family made homeless by the disaster may apply for occupancy at any other apartment complex as a "displaced tenant." Applicants will be placed on a special list to be offered any vacant unit, or the next one available if no vacancies currently exist.

For residents receiving rental assistance (RA) in units made uninhabitable by Hurricane Katrina, Rural Development can allow the transfer of the RA to another eligible apartment complex. The transfer must be agreed to by all parties and be designed for the return of the residents -- if they so choose -- and the RA to the original complex and unit after the property has been restored.

The health and safety of residents is our utmost concern. Local housing officials determine the safety of our rental apartments. If the complex is safe, all existing obligations between the landlord and tenants should continue to be met. If the complex is determined unsafe, these obligations will be suspended, in good faith, while the units are being rehabilitated.

List of Apartment Complexes

Status of Multi-Family properties at risk:

• If a tenant with Rental Assistance is displaced, he or she can ask for priority assistance and be placed in any vacant USDA Rural Development financed multi-family housing project.

Immediate assistance Rural Development is providing:

• Displaced tenants will be offered a letter of priority eligibility, which moves a displaced tenant, with or without rental assistance, to the top of waiting lists of vacancies in other properties.
• Rural Development is arranging for use of vacant seasonal labor housing units as a stop-gap measure for tenants who were displaced while repairs are made to their homes.
• Rural Development has identified approximately 550 units of vacant multifamily housing within reasonable distance (into coastal Texas).

Status of water utilities:

• Impact on water systems -- data courtesy of our partner the National Rural Water Association