Help Offered to Households Displaced by the Kentucky, Illinois, and Tennessee Severe Storms

last updated on Tuesday, January 18, 2022 in Community News

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) recently issued a statement to allow vacant AHP-assisted rental units to be leased temporarily to individuals/households, regardless of their income, who were displaced by the Kentucky, Illinois, and Tennessee disasters in December 2021. Eligible individuals/households must have resided in a county designated on or after December 11, 2021 for Individual Assistance by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Temporary suspension of household income limits for AHP-assisted rental projects is permissible under the following requirements:

  • Project owners or sponsors must obtain written approval from the Federal Home Loan Bank that approved their AHP project to temporarily suspend household income limits for disaster-displaced individuals/households;
  • Project owners or sponsors must obtain, maintain, and certify certain information about the displaced individual/household, including name and former address, and a statement, signed under penalty of perjury by the individual/head of household, that the individual/household requires temporary housing because of damage to their home in an eligible county;
  • Project owners or sponsors must maintain documentation of the date the individual/household began temporary occupancy of the AHP unit and the date the occupancy ends;
  • Rents charged must not exceed the existing AHP rents for the units, except as permitted under other federal agency declarations for housing assistance for disaster-displaced households; and
  • Existing AHP-eligible tenants cannot be evicted or otherwise have their tenancy terminated as a result of efforts to provide temporary housing for displaced individuals/households.
  • The time period for suspension of household income limits shall not extend beyond April 30, 2023.

Please contact Community Investment at communityinvestment@fhlbdm.com or 800.544.3452, ext. 2400 with any questions you may have.

  1. Affordable Housing Program