More than $100 million state grant funds have been left unclaimed by applicants for my safe Florida Home Program, and applicants for grants are required to take immediate steps to claim $10,000 for a residential hardening project.
According to a memo released Wednesday by Senator Ben Albritton, the money has been reassigned by the homeowner who has completed the inspection and paperwork but has continued by completing the project and requesting grants.
The memo said Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis notified the Senate to inform the program that grant applications can be resumed to distribute $103 million. It covers around 10,300 new grants.
Albritton’s note said the application portal will resume until April 30 for homeowners who have already been inspected.
On Thursday, Patronis’ office re-entered an account created on the program’s website MySafeflhome.com and sent a news release urging homeowners who have completed their home inspections to submit their age and income in a prioritization survey. This information is necessary to ensure that older people and low-income homeowners prioritize grants, the release said.
The program will then email applicants with more information on how to submit a grant application.
Until February, around 29,000 homeowners received grants to strengthen or replace roofs and install impact-resistant doors, windows or storm shutters.
Around 30,000 properties have been inspected, but the owners have not completed an age and income survey, the release states. “If we don’t do this, we won’t receive the grant,” Patronis was quoted as saying in the release.
About 45,000 applicants who completed wind mitigation tests were left at Limbo on July 17 last year when the application portal suddenly closed after funds for the new tests were exhausted.
Gov. Ron Desantis is calling for an additional $590 million to fund 10,000 new applicants, as well as 45,000 people who were tested but were unable to apply for the grant. However, the funds have not been approved by Congress yet.
The program, created in 2006, was revived by Congress in 2022 as a way for homeowners to save on home insurance costs. According to data released by the program, approximately half of applicants whose project was completed received a discount from their premiums.
When it first revived, the program offered $2 1:1 matching grants. This means that homeowners had to spend $5,000 to claim a $10,000 grant. The programme was open to homeowners of all income levels.
However, the revisions enacted last year allowed only low-income homeowners to apply for the first 30 days after the application portal was reopened, and then moderate-income homeowners could apply for the next 30 days. Congress also removed the match requirements for low-income applicants. Now, if approved, low-income homeowners can earn $10,000 without making their own money.
Middle-income homeowners and those above low or middle-income levels will need to list $5,000 to get back $10,000. The program requires these homeowners to pay the project in advance and submit it for a refund.
Low-income households are defined as having a county median household income of 80% or less. Middle-income households are defined as having a median county household income of 120% or less. Median income is determined by the Federal Housing and Urban Development Agency and depends on the size of the county and household.
According to program spokesman Devin Galetta, 10,238 homeowners with grant approval did not request a final inspection or refund of requests. Initially they were given one year after the grant was approved to complete those final measures. Approved applicants may have requested six more months if they needed more time, Garetta said.
Ron Burtibise covers South Florida Sun Sentinel’s business and consumer issues. He can be contacted by telephone at 954-356-4071 or by email at rhurtibise@sunsentinel.com.
Original issue: March 27, 2025, 3:32pm EDT
