Pittsburgh Review

Those who were affected by the fire on Jan. 22 at the Rodi Arms Apartments in Penn Hills, Allegheny County have been urged by Gov. Tom Wolf to apply for the U.S. Small Business Administration low interest physical disaster loans before April 18, which is designed to help homeowners and renters get back on their feet.

According to a release on March 17 by Gov. Wolf’s office, the loans of up to $200,000 are available for homeowners and renters for repairs and replacement of destroyed real estate property. There are also loans of up to $40,000 for repairing or replacing personal property, which include vehicles.

“These loans are a valuable resource in the recovery process for people who suffered losses due to the fire,” said Gov. Wolf. “I encourage anyone who is interested to contact the SBA to find out what help might be available to them.”

Along with these loans, businesses and non-profit organizations can apply for $2 million in loans for damaged or destroyed buildings, inventory, equipment and more. There are also Economic Injury Disaster Loans that can be used to pay things like fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and bills that cannot be paid due to a disaster, according to the release. The business does not need to have had physical damage from the fire. The Small Business Administration has long-term repayment options with terms of up to 30 years, which are decided case-by-case and based upon the ability to pay off the loan.

According to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, the fire on Jan. 22 started in a tenant’s kitchen after falling asleep while cooking food. The fire spread to the attic of the building and was a total loss, displacing 30 families or 66 people. No injuries were reported.

Additional information can be provided about the loan applications through the SBA customer service center at 1-800-659-2955 or 1-800-877-8399 for deaf and hard of hearing. Information can also be found by emailing DisasterCustomerService@sba.gov and applications can be found at sba.gov/disaster.

Applications are to be mailed to U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing and Distribution Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, Texas 76155.

The deadline for physical property damage applications is April 18 and the deadline for economic injury disaster loan applications is Nov. 17.