Recovery Programs For Homeowners and Renters Affected by the 2020 Wildfires
Recovery Programs
The goal of the recovery programs is that all fire-impacted individuals and households have equitable access to the resources necessary to be housed safely, sustainably, permanently, affordably, and in their housing of choice. The Homeowner Assistance & Reconstruction Program (HARP) is housing replacement program for homeowners who lost homes to the fires. The Homeownership and Opportunities Program (HOP) is a housing program for renters who lost their place of residence due to the fires. The Intermediate Housing Assistance (IHA) program can utilize funds to support rent assistance, relocation costs, and housing navigation.
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Homeowner Assistance and Reconstruction Program (HARP)
HARP can help eligible homeowners impacted by the 2020 Oregon wildfires rebuild, repair, or replace their home.
Program Eligibility
To qualify for HARP Phase 1, a homeowner must meet all the following criteria:
- Homeowner lost their primary residence in one of the 2020 Labor Day Oregon fires (e.g., Echo Mountain, Beachie Creek, Almeda, etc.);
- Homeowner has a remaining need; and
- Homeowner’s household qualifies as low or moderate income (LMI). See below for LMI figures for each county.
- Households with very high debt burdens due to recovery costs and those with a household member with a significant disability may be considered for Phase 1.
- There is no citizenship or residency status requirement.
Fiscal Year 2023 Low- and Moderate-Income Limit (80% of median income)
Source: HUD (https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/il.html#year2023)
No Reimbursements in Phase 1
HARP Phase 1 is for income-qualified homeowners who haven’t been able to re-establish safe, healthy, permanent housing. If sufficient funds remain, Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) will consider requesting HUD approval to allow reimbursement requests as part of a later phase. Former homeowners who have completed their recovery and still need assistance (e.g., retirees who now face unsupportable mortgages or households that have had to spend much of their retirement savings) are still encouraged to complete the eligibility questionnaire.
What If You Aren’t Eligible for Phase 1?
Please complete the eligibility questionnaire linked to the application even if you don’t expect to qualify for Phase 1 or were a renter at the time of the disaster. This will help OHCS design any future phases if sufficient funds remain.
- For homeowners: Depending on funds available, future phases of HARP may expand eligibility. The LMI amount is also updated annually.
- For renters: ReOregon will develop affordable homeownership opportunities for fire survivors who were renters.
To stay up to date on any potential future phases of this program and other housing programs – please subscribe for updates.
Types of Assistance
- Completing a rebuild: If a rebuild is underway but not yet finished, HARP can pay remaining eligible costs to complete construction. The homeowner would continue managing their own contractor and the program can make payments based on progress directly to the contractor. ReOregon can also help by providing construction advisory services and legal services to assist homeowners with their recovery project.
- New manufactured/modular home: If a survivor needs to replace a manufactured home, the program can work with a participant to help them identify and buy a new manufactured home (where feasible and based on site limitations, modular homes may be an option). If a survivor has already committed to the purchase of a new manufactured home, the program can help pay for the remaining eligible costs. In either case, the program can fund costs to place/install the new home, including most “park package” costs and similar required expenses.
- Size of replacement homes: The program will fund replacement of like-for-like homes, i.e., similar size and number of bedrooms. (OHCS may make exceptions to fund a larger replacement home in cases where the destroyed home was too small for the number of household members living there.) Subject to award maximums, program participants who can fund the difference could replace a lost home with a larger or different type of home.
- Accessory Dwelling Unit Pilot Program: HARP can also help impacted homeowners to build an accessory dwelling unit (ADU), if allowed under local zoning. In exchange, homeowners must agree to rent the unit at affordable rates for at least eight years to low- or moderate-income households. (An ADU is typically a smaller one- or two-bedroom home on the same lot as a primary residence that is rented to another household.)
- Repairs to address health and safety issues: HARP can help with other issues as well. For example, HARP can help homeowners who may have a safety or health concern about a replacement home they purchased. This could be any problem that makes the home unsafe or unhealthy to live in or is “substandard.” This could include issues such as mold, problems with the roof, large gaps around windows, and hazardous trees that threaten their home. In some cases, a cost analysis may conclude that replacing an unsafe home may be the best course of action.
Award Maximums
The program has a maximum benefit value for the home replacement. For site-built homes, it is based on the square footage of the home that was lost in the fire; for manufactured homes, it is based on whether the lost home was a “single-wide” or a “double-wide.” Site costs (such as well or septic repairs) or park costs (such as delivery or required skirting or a carport) don’t count against the award maximum.
- Single-family site-built homes:
- Up to $155 per square foot*
- Manufactured homes:
- Single wide: $100,000
- Double wide: $185,000
Duplication of Benefits
Homeowners must contribute any insurance money received for home replacement or reconstruction, any FEMA structural loss award, or any other recovery benefits provided to help with permanent housing repair, reconstruction, or replacement.
This requirement exists primarily to protect program beneficiaries. The federal government can require repayment of a duplicate benefit if it is discovered later.
In cases where homeowners received such a benefit, but it is no longer available to contribute to the ReOregon project, program staff may be able to resolve a duplication of benefits by allowing the applicant to qualify for a smaller home.
Home Placement Requirements
Manufactured homes can be placed on land owned by the program participant, on leased land with a minimum lease term of two years, or in a manufactured home park. If the applicant hasn’t secured a location, program staff may be able to help find one.
No homes can be placed or built in a floodway. All construction in the 100-year floodplain must be elevated at least 2 feet above base flood elevation.
Conditions If Approved for Funds
For construction projects that have already started, construction must pause (“stop work”) while an environmental review of the site is completed. In cases where there are no concerns identified, the review may be completed in a relatively small period. If the project includes new construction in an environmentally or culturally sensitive area, it will take longer.
There are no prohibitions on resale or requirements for length of residency for HARP. However, if the home is sited in a permanently affordable manufactured home park, that park may have such restrictions. (HOP programs will have additional restrictions to preserve the affordability of such homes for future purchasers.)
All program benefits are subject to benefit caps and a reasonable-cost analysis.
How and When to Apply
- You will be able to apply directly through an online application or work with an agency in your community that will help with the process.
- The application process will take some time, but local partners will be available to assist applicants, help collect documents, and answer questions.
Please note: Because of federal requirements, the application process will be intensive. It may take several sessions to complete the application itself. Your local partner is there to help with the application process. The application review process is also likely in many cases to take several months.
Start Getting Your Documentation Ready to Apply
Applicants will have to prove several things to be eligible for HARP. There is NO citizenship or residency status requirement. The state must document that HARP recipients owned their primary residence and that it was destroyed (or damaged) by a 2020 Labor Day fire. Applicants who have a FEMA Individual Assistance ID number can provide that in place of much of the documentation below, but they will still need to provide proof of identity and current income.
Preferred documents:
- Evidence of homeownership (such as a deed, title, or bill of sale)
- Evidence the home was your primary residence (such as a government-issued ID)
- Record of damage to the home (such as an official damage assessment, insurance documents and/or photos)
- Proof of current income (documents showing amount of income from all current sources)
- Record of any other benefits or recovery supports received, including insurance payments
- Proof of identity for all household members over age 18 (such as a government-issued photo ID or Consular ID)
Applicants who don’t have all the preferred documents can submit alternatives, such as a birth certificate, bank statement, or school registration.
Additional documents may be needed prior to an award determination.
Contact Us
- Email questions to: ReOregon@HCS.oregon.gov
- Call 833-604-0878
- To stay up-to-date on HARP, subscribe for program updates now!
Homeownership Opportunities Program (HOP)
Due to rising housing costs, a lack of available housing, disaster impacts to renters, and overall impact to housing availability in the most impacted disaster areas, ReOregon will help replace destroyed housing stock with affordable homeownership opportunities for disaster-impacted first-time homebuyers. The program will fund the development of new homes to be sold to those types of homebuyers (up to 120% of area median income).
Prefabricated (including manufactured) homes may only be placed on land owned by the resident-owner(s) or in manufactured housing parks when the landowners or park owners agree to meet all program requirements including maintaining long-term affordability.
- The awards to the homebuyer will be structured as a fully or partially forgivable, 0-interest loan or grant. The award amount and structure will be calculated based on the applicant’s household income, other reasonably priced resources available to the applicant for home purchase, and projected costs for maintaining the home and housing costs (e.g., property taxes, homeowner and flood insurance, utilities).
- Buyers won’t be required to qualify for a first mortgage to be eligible for the program.
- Any loan repayment will be made over a period of time that will make the payments affordable for the homebuyer. If the property is sold prior to full repayment, the balance of the repayable portion of the loan will be due upon sale.
- The property will be maintained as affordable housing for the duration of a property affordability period, which may be longer than the term of the loan or grant to the homebuyer.
This program will subsidize the development and construction of new homes that are more affordable, energy-efficient, and resilient in the face of future disasters. The development subsidies may be made available on a competitive basis through a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) from OHCS or via grants to local governmental or nonprofit housing development partners.
OHCS will partner with local and Tribal governments, long-term recovery groups, culturally specific and community-based organizations, community action agencies, disaster case managers, and/or other organizations to share HOP program information with individuals and communities with limited English language proficiency, members of protected classes, vulnerable populations, and individuals from underserved communities. The state will work with these organizations to ensure that program materials are accessible and understandable to all applicants and that program intake and application processes are accommodating and provided in a way that accounts for culturally specific needs. The state may engage these same types of organizations to help with application intake and provide support through the application process. This will provide applicants with options for obtaining support from a trusted support network, which is intended to address potential accessibility challenges for impacted residents who have not yet participated in state or federal recovery programs.
Program Eligibility
Geographic Eligibility: Clackamas, Douglas, Jackson, Klamath, Lane, Lincoln, Linn, and Marion counties
Eligible Applicants: To be eligible for the program, applicants must meet the following criteria:
- Have a household income at or below 120% of the area median income, adjusted for household size. (This is the maximum allowable under HUD rules.) (Source: HUD – https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/il.html#year2023)
- Have experienced a verified residential loss as a result of the 2020 wildfires.
- Be a first-time homebuyer. A first-time homebuyer is an individual who meets any of the following criteria:
- An individual who has had no ownership in a principal residence during the three-year period ending on the date of purchase of the property.
- A single parent who owned a home with a former spouse while married but has not owned a home otherwise.
- Agree to the affordability terms, which includes maintaining the property as an owner-occupant for a defined period (homebuyer affordability period) event.
- Be able to afford the cost of maintaining a home. It’s not a requirement for applicants to qualify for a first mortgage or other credit to access the program.
This program is still under development, to stay up-to-date on HOP, subscribe for program updates now!
Intermediate Housing Assistance (IHA)
This program will provide rent assistance to eligible residents located in the 2020 fire impacted counties who lack the necessary resources or support networks to obtain affordable rental housing or need alternative housing until permanent housing solutions are secured.
Source: Oregon.gov