Disaster Assistance Loans Available to Help Larimer County Businesses and Residents Affected by Wildfires

Residents and businesses within Larimer County affected by the Sunday, September 6 through Thursday, November 5 wildfires can now apply for low-interest federal disaster loans from the Small Business Administration.

The loans are available through the Small Business Administration (SBA) by declaring the fire areas a disaster and the SBA making assistance available within Larimer County. Businesses of all sizes and private, nonprofit organizations may borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery, equipment, inventory, and other business assets.

“The low-interest federal disaster loans are available to businesses of all sizes, most private nonprofit organizations, including homeowners and renters whose property was damaged by the disaster,” said SBA’s Director Tanya N. Garfield of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Disaster Field Operations Center-West.

Interest rates can be as low as 3 percent for businesses, 2.75 percent for private nonprofit organizations, and 1.188 percent for homeowners and renters with terms up to 30 years. The deadline to apply for property damage is Monday, April 26, with the deadline to apply for economic injury is Tuesday, November 23.

Disaster loans up to $200,000 are available to homeowners to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate. In contrast, homeowners and renters are eligible for up to $40,000 to repair or replace damaged or destroyed personal property. SBA offers Economic Injury Disaster Loans for small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small businesses engaged in aquaculture, and most private nonprofit organizations of any size to help meet working capital needs caused by the disaster.

Economic injury assistance is available regardless of whether the business suffered any property damage. The SBA can also lend extra funds to businesses and homeowners to help with the cost of improvements to protect, prevent, or minimize the same disaster from happening in the future. The SBA opened a Virtual Business Recovery Center on Thursday, February 25, due to health concerns from COVID-19 to provide personal assistance to business owners.

“The SBA is strongly committed to providing Colorado with the most effective and customer-focused response possible, and we will be there to provide access to federal disaster loans to help finance recovery for businesses and residents affected by the disaster,” said SBA Acting Administrator Tami Perriello. “Getting our businesses and communities up and running is after a disaster is the highest priority at the SBA,” Tami said.

SBA will also open a Virtual Disaster Loan Outreach Center to help homeowners and renters. Customer service representatives will be available to answer questions regarding the SBA disaster loan program, explain the application process, and aid individuals in completing their electronic loan applications.

The Virtual Business Recovery Center and Virtual Disaster Loan Outreach Center hours are Monday through Friday from 8 am to 8 pm (Eastern Time).

For more information regarding the SBA disaster assistance loans, including where to apply, visit: https://disasterloanassistance.sba.gov/ or call 800-659-2955