Florida Program Opens Applications to Help Homeowners Battle Extreme Weather

A popular home-hardening program in Florida has officially reopened, inviting thousands of Floridian homeowners to apply for funding and free inspections. 

My Safe Florida Home

The ‘My Safe Florida Home’ homeowners program is now accepting applications for 2024. The popular state program offers funding for low-to-medium-income households who need assistance to prepare their homes for destructive weather coming through the state.

Hardening Homes, Reducing Insurance

Homeowning applicants can receive as much as $10,000 dollars each to harden their homes and lower their insurance rates, which have skyrocketed in recent years as extreme weather events become more frequent.

Increasing Extreme Weather

Weather-related issues such as hurricane, storm, and flooding damage, are becoming an increasingly terrifying (and expensive) prospect for homeowners across the state. 

Helping Since 2022

The My Safe Home program has been helping Floridian homeowners since 2022 and has assisted more than 30,000 applicants since then. 

Large Backlog in 2023

The program was so popular that it ended in a massive backlog of applications from eligible homeowners, and applications had to be temporarily closed due to lack of funding. The application portal officially reopened on July 1, with different stages opening between July 1 and August 31st, depending on age and income level.

Two Weeks After Major Storms

The applications have opened just two weeks after intense tropical storms, thunderstorms, and flash flooding cut across South Florida, filling homes and requiring dozens of evacuations. 

$200 Million in Additional Funding

This year the program has received a much-needed boost, with Governor Ron DeSantis allocating an extra $200 million in funding for the program. 

Senior Citizens Take Priority

This next round of funding came with a caveat that low-income senior citizens take top priority in the next application period, so some restructuring was needed before the program could be opened with the extra funding.

Tiers of Funding

Now low-income homeowners older than 60 will be the first to be accepted for funding, followed by low-income homeowners of all ages, then on to medium-income homeowners older than 60. Medium-income homeowners of all ages will be the last group to be considered. 

Median Household Income

Low income in Florida is defined as being equivalent to only 80% or less of the state’s median household income, which is $65,370 as of 2022, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis.

Medium-Income Household

Medium or moderate income in Florida is defined as being 120% or less of the median household income.

Frustrated Applicants

Some needy homeowners have expressed frustrations over the recent changes to the program. Many eligible applicants who submitted their paperwork for the program last year could not be approved as the program quickly ran out of funding.

Missing Out for the Second Time

Now that the structure has changed to prioritize older applicants, people who applied last year and are still sorely in need may miss out on the funding cycle for the second time, if the program uses all its funding. 

Changing Midstream

“She jumped through all the hoops that they required, put in a limbo situation, then all of a sudden you change midstream?” one Floridian man, whose daughter and grandchildren are still on the waitlist, told ABC Action News in Tampa Bay.

Confirmed by Representatives

State Rep. Alex Andrade confirmed that the latest funding round was liable to run out “relatively quickly.” “Hopefully the folks most in need get that advantage to actually get access to that funding before folks who are slightly less in need are able to jump in front of them in line,” he said.

Many Benefits Offered

The grant not only offers funding for home strengthening, hurricane-hardening, and other improvements, but also home inspections, and ensures that successful applicants will be helped to qualify for insurance discounts.

Limited Free Inspections

Applicants who do not qualify for funding can still apply to the program to get a free home inspection, though free inspections are limited. 

Insurance a Major Driver

Lowering home insurance premiums has been a major driver for applicants. Home insurance rate increases in Florida could jump as high as 23% this year due to severe weather.

“Drop Your Premiums Up to 50%”

“You can drop your premiums up to 50% if you are participating in that program in one year. That is quicker than any new rate approval process that takes place,” said Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis. 

Realization for Floridians

“If your driver’s license says Florida, it’s your home that will be struck,” said Lisa Miller, an insurance advisor and disaster recovery expert. “It’s a fact that we, as Floridians, have to realize that the days of inexpensive insurance premiums are over.”

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