More than $100 million in state grant funding has been left unclaimed by My Safe Florida Home program applicants, and grant hopefuls are urged to immediately take steps to claim $10,000 for home-hardening projects.
The money is being reallocated from homeowners who completed their inspections and paperwork but did not follow through by completing their projects and requesting their grant, according to a memo released Wednesday by Senate President Ben Albritton.
The memo said that Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis notified the Senate that the program can reopen grant applications to distribute $103 million. That would cover about 10,300 new grants.
Albritton’s memo stated that the application portal will reopen through April 30 for homeowners who have already had an inspection.
On Thursday, Patronis’ office sent out a news release urging homeowners who have completed their home inspections to reenter the accounts they created on the program’s website, MySafeFlHome.com, and submit their ages and incomes on a prioritization survey. That information is needed to ensure that senior citizens and low-income homeowners are prioritized for grants, the release said.
The program will then email applicants with further information about how they can submit grant applications.
Through February, about 29,000 homeowners received grants to strengthen or replace their roofs, or to install impact-resistant doors, windows, or storm shutters.
About 30,000 properties have been inspected but their owners have not completed the age and income questionnaire, the release said. “If you do not do this, you will not receive a grant,” Patronis was quoted in the release as saying.
About 45,000 applicants with completed wind mitigation inspections were left in limbo on July 17 of last year, when the application portal was abruptly closed after funding for new inspections dried up.
Gov. Ron DeSantis is requesting an additional $590 million to fund the 45,000 who underwent inspections but were unable to apply for grants, plus 10,000 new applicants. But that funding has not yet been approved by the Legislature.
The program, created in 2006, was revived by the Legislature in 2022 as a way for homeowners to save on home insurance costs. About half of applicants with completed projects received discounts off their insurance premiums, according to data released by the program.
When first revived, the program provided $2-for-$1 matching grants, meaning homeowners were required to spend $5,000 to claim a $10,000 grant. The program at that time was open to homeowners of any income level.
But a revision enacted last year allowed only low-income homeowners to apply for the first 30 days after the application portal reopened, and then moderate-income homeowners for 30 days after that. The Legislature also removed the match requirement for low-income applicants. Now, if approved, low-income homeowners can get $10,000 without having to put up their own money.
Moderate-income homeowners, as well as anyone above low- or moderate-income levels, will still be required to put up $5,000 to get $10,000 back. The program requires those homeowners to pay for their projects upfront and submit for reimbursement.
Low-income households are defined as making 80% or less than the median household income of their county. Moderate-income households are defined as making 120% or less of their county’s median household income. The median income is determined by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development and varies by county and household size.
According to program spokesman Devin Galetta, 10,238 homeowners who were approved for grants did not request a final inspection or request reimbursement. Initially they were given a year after their grant was approved to complete those final steps. Approved applicants could have also requested an additional six months if they needed more time, Galetta said.
Ron Hurtibise covers business and consumer issues for the South Florida Sun Sentinel. He can be reached by phone at 954-356-4071 or by email at rhurtibise@sunsentinel.com.
