FEMA Selling Travel Trailers to Occupants
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has launched a sales program that will give eligible occupants the opportunity to buy their travel trailer, park model or mobile home. The program is open only to those eligible applicants currently residing in FEMA travel trailers and mobile homes. The sales offer will apply to the temporary housing unit in which the applicant currently resides. No substitutions or exchanges will be allowed. Units will be sold "as is" with no stated or implied warranties. Once occupants purchase the unit, they will no longer be eligible for temporary housing assistance from FEMA.
To date, FEMA has housed more than 90,000 families displaced by Katrina and Rita in travel trailers/mobile homes in Louisiana. Currently, under FEMA's Individual Household Program, more than 49,000 families continue to live in travel trailers and mobile homes.
FEMA has begun mailing out a "Notice of Interest" to occupants. After receiving the packet of information, applicants with questions may call FEMA toll-free at 1-800-621-FEMA (3362)
(TTY: 1-800-462-7585). Once FEMA receives the signed Notice of Interest from occupants, they will be notified about their eligibility to participate in the sales program. A FEMA sales manager will contact eligible occupants to begin the sales program or inform ineligible occupants of their status. All sales will be handled on a case-by-case basis.
The sales prices will vary based on several factors including the type of unit, whether the unit was originally new or used and the number of months the occupant lived in the unit. Occupants purchasing their unit must also:
- Pay all applicable state sales taxes and any other applicable costs;
- Accept all responsibility and liability. Occupants in group sites will be responsible for moving the unit to a location within 30 days of completion of the sale;
- Obtain local permits or inspections and provide copies to FEMA, as required;
- Comply with local floodplain management codes if the selected site is located within the 100-year floodplain or a designated Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA);
- Agree to obtain hazard insurance for the unit, including flood insurance, if the unit is or will be located in a designated SFHA.
Applicants who do not wish to participate in the sales program may stay in their units as long as they meet the eligibility requirements for temporary housing assistance while that assistance is provided.
"This program will give occupants the option to buy their unit and to regain some sense of permanency while they continue to work on their personal recovery," said Jim Stark, FEMA director of the Louisiana Transitional Recovery Office. "Our sales managers will be contacting interested applicants to explain how the sales program works and to assist them with any questions they may have."
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