Housing

Overview

Disaster survivors often experience issues with maintaining adequate housing. These issues can include:

• Difficulty finding housing.
• Difficulty keeping up with mortgage or rent payments.
• Mortgage foreclosure.
• Difficulty paying for home repairs.
• Landlords raising rent and evicting tenants from formerly affordable units.
• Landlords refusing to repair disaster-related damage.
• Illegal evictions, with landlords taking advantage of disaster-related court closures and tenants’ temporary evacuation.
• Difficulty proving ownership of a home, which can affect eligibility for disaster recovery assistance.

There are legal rights and remedies that can help with these issues, as explained in our resources. However, legal advocates and disaster survivors should keep in mind that many housing-related laws and rights are state-specific. It is important to take into account these state laws as well as the specific language in mortgage contracts or lease agreements.