State-funded home improvement dreams paused as heavy demand closes first step for funding

Didn’t get into the pipeline to claim your state-funded home improvement grant after the possibility reopened July 1? You've got plenty of company.

My Safe Florida Home , which hands out up to $10,000 per home in state money to help Floridians get their homes storm-ready — and perhaps lower their insurance premiums — has proven wildly popular. So much so that just two weeks after the program reopened, those first in line for millions in state grants, residents older than 60 and on a lower income, exhausted the resources earmarked for the first step on the path to get the money.

One of those apparently was Carolyn Deli of Lake Worth Beach . She swung into action the day the program reopened July 1 to begin the process to claim her part of the $185 million the state allocated for the homeowner grants this past legislative session. So the news about the inspection slots being exhausted prompted Deli to check on her application and left her unsure if she was among those approved.

“They said they accepted my application, but I can’t tell anything else,” said the retired schoolteacher after viewing her account online.

“But maybe that’s because I’m 75,” she added with a chuckle.

The My Safe Florida Home Program offers state property owners the chance to procure an up-to-$10,000 reimbursement for roof replacements as well as upgrades to windows and doors to strengthen homes against hurricanes.

It's not an arbitrary money allocation, however.

Applicants in the My Safe Florida Home must first have their home inspected by a program-authorized agent who determines what the property's weather weaknesses are. It's that analysis that determines which repairs or upgrades are eligible for the state money. Once the the work is completed , again by a state-selected contractor, the homeowner submits the documentation for the reimbursement.

Per usual, rush of application filings greets reopening of program

There are no more inspection slots — at least for this round — as the number of applications submitted this month has tapped out the fresh round of funding for inspections that lawmakers approved for this fiscal year.

About $3.5 million was designated to carry out initial and final inspections. The $184 million allocated this past session for the grants to pay for the work is still up for grabs for those who have the inspection and eligible home upgrades identified.

The yes or no for an inspection should have come in an email, according to state officials.

The Palm Beach Post asked for a status check on Deli’s application. Deli said she received a phone call telling her she could lay claim to one of the 3,442 inspection slots funded for the program’s reopening this year. It was a big relief, she said, considering her husband’s recent death and the condition of her 78-year-old house that has termite-damaged windows and doors.

“I nearly fainted on the spot,” Deli said, about when she got the news.

Without the grant, she said, “I’d have to look into some loans."

Legislator: Demand for program just one sign of state’s insurance crisis

The avalanche of applications shut down the pipeline before it opened to low-income people younger than 60 on July 15 and three other groups divided by age and income, who were scheduled to become eligible to apply for the required inspection at later dates. And that’s further evidence for Democratic state Rep. Christine Hunschofsky of Parkland that people are desperately looking for ways to lower their insurance rates.

“We need leadership to act, to do more to help constituents with their insurance needs,” said Hunschofsky who sponsored legislation that will expand the My Safe Florida Home to condominiums on a pilot basis this fall.

The home-hardening grant program has already awarded $434 million since 2022 for inspections and work on fortifying property against Mother Nature’s whims, according to a news release from the Department of Financial Services, which oversees My Safe Florida Home. It was thought the money would reduce homeowners’ liability and offer some relief from the insurance rates that Floridians pay — the highest average premiums in the country.

State spokesman Devin Galetta calls the program “the strongest tools in the toolkit to help rein in rates and make homes safer.”

Some homeowners have already realized $1,000 in home insurance premium savings, according to the Department of Financial Services.

My Safe Florida Home may become a more permanent offering, Galetta said. It was brought back in 2022 after it was used in 2006 and distributed without regard to age or income in 2022 and 2023. Beefed-up funding for My Safe Florida Home was part of the special legislative session in November when funding allocated during the previous session ran out.

“Next session, the CFO (Chief Financial Services Officer Jimmy Patronis) is going to put forward some ideas for improving the program, including dedicated funding streams and making the program reoccurring,” Galetta said.

New prioritization of certain ages, incomes has some giving up

Legislators this past session prioritized potential grant recipients according to age and income.

Lori Lanni, 57, of Royal Palm Beach said she was excited to hear about the program and fully intended to apply.

“My windows would have been first,” she said, noting that her door could also use some bolstering. “I told everyone I knew to apply for it.”

But then she went online and started reading that the program was prioritizing those older than 60 with lower incomes first.

“I knew that at the income level that my husband and I are at, I knew we'd be the very last (in line) and I know how fast the money went last time,” she said. “I knew we wouldn't get a penny.”

Galetta, however, emphasized that the program is still distributing grants to those whose inspection determined they are eligible. There are 13,000 grant slots still available — vastly outnumbered by the nearly 59,000 homeowners with inspections that show they are approved to apply for the actual grant.

Those in the queue, already with a home inspection showing their eligibility for the state grant, must also wait their turn according to age and income. Right now, after the window dedicated to approving applicants older than 60 on a lower income closed July 15, people younger than 60 with lower incomes — and an inspection that determined the needed upgrades are eligible for state funding — are now in their window of opportunity to apply for the funding.

An income is considered “lower” if it’s 80% or less than the applicant’s county of residence.

Those heads of household older than 60 with a “moderate” income —making 120% or less than his or her county’s median income — become eligible to apply for the grant on July 31.

Anne Geggis is the insurance reporter at The Palm Beach Post , part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. Y ou can reach her at ageggis@gannett.com . Help support our journalism. Subscribe today .

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: State-funded home improvement dreams paused as heavy demand closes first step for funding