Bastrop County

1. Bastrop County Long Term Recovery Team The mission of the Bastrop County Long Term Recovery Team is to assist individuals and families recovering from the 2011 wildfires in Bastrop County; more specifically, to rebuild homes and provide for any other unmet needs for uninsured and underinsured low income individuals and families. Bastrop County

2. Planning for recovery starts Before the disaster.

3. Recovery starts as soon as the disaster occurs

4. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS: SURVIVAL GUIDE IN TIMES OF DISASTER • Who should apply for FEMA? Everyone. FEMA awards are based on the need of the community. Just because a person has insurance or is a renter does not mean that they will not receive funds. There will also be a FEMA number assigned to the survivor. This number will serve as verification of the disaster survivor when applying with other agencies to receive assistance. • What should people know about their received FEMA funds? These funds should be spent on immediate needs and housing, either rebuilding or a rental. Every receipt should be kept. (If the survivor does not have a portable file box, this makes an awesome gift). These receipts will be asked for on many occasions, especially if the survivor seeks labor or financial help to rebuild. Rejection or acceptance into many programs will be based on these receipts and what the funds were spent on. Encourage people to hang on to their funds if they are planning to rebuild.

5. How do survivors’ get immediate needs met? If it is a large disaster there will be donation centers cropping up everywhere. It is extremely helpful for someone not affected by the disaster to investigate the area and compose a resource list. This list should be updated daily and made available to survivors. Example of what is on the list: name and address of local food pantry; name and address of churches or locations that are acting as donation centers; name and address of the disaster recovery center (DRC); hotels and shelter locations with names and addresses; List of organizational resources complete with locations and phone numbers. Examples of organizational resources: Mennonite Disaster Services, Samaritans Purse, Christian Aid Ministries, Convoy of Hope or Baptist Men. These organizations along with others show up at disasters and offer free clean up. These as well as others often assist in labor free rebuilds. (Another good reason to hold on to FEMA funds or insurance monies) • What does the survivor do with their insurance check which is made payable to the survivor and the mortgage company? Please see “Disaster after Disaster” form! People need to be educated on the options available to them before they choose to pay off their mortgage!! This Information is extremely important.

6. How long can a survivor hold on to their un-cashed insurance check? This can vary but what we have seen is they can hold on to it for months. There may be a “void after 90 days” on the check, survivor needs to be aware. The main objective for the survivor is to not be pushed to cash the check until decisions around rebuilding have been made. If the decision can not be reached before the check becomes void the survivor can request to have it put in a rebuild escrow account and later decide not to use it to rebuild. Refer to Disaster after the Disaster form. • How do survivors help themselves when it comes to Contents insurance? The survivor will be asked to make a list of the contents of their home complete with the price paid for the item. They will be told to continue the list until the amount insured for is reached. What they may not be told is that the items will be depreciated up to 40%. It is a good idea for the survivor to list at least one third more than they are insured for. Example; content insurance is $30,000, survivor should continuing listing contents until $45,000 is reached, as long as they had the property to verify that amount. If they stop the list at $30,000 than after depreciation they will only receive $18,000.

7. What is SBA and should survivors apply? SBA stands for Small Business Administration. SBA often shows up in times of disasters to offer low interest home loans for rebuilding. (FEMA receipts become very important here). The monies made available here equal the difference between the cost of the rebuild and the amount of insurance or FEMA funds received. Example; person received $42,000 insurance money; and the home rebuild will cost $100,000. SBA will loan $58,000 to the approved survivor. (the difference between $42,000 and $100,000) Again it is important to educated people to hold on to their insurance and FEMA funds. Encourage survivors to apply for all resources as time allows especially if they are going to be in need of financial or labor assistance. • Who qualifies for free clean up of disaster sites? Everyone affected by the disaster. There will be many organizations made available for free clean up. I will list a few: Samaritans Purse, Baptist Men, Christian Aid Ministries, Mennonite Disaster Services, and Lutheran Charities….

8. What do you do if a pet is lost? Check with animal shelters. There will be pop up shelters that will be available. Social media is a good place to search, ie. facebook. • What does the survivor do if all their prescriptions are lost? They can usually get an emergency prescription at the pharmacy in which they had it filled. If that pharmacy is no longer operational then they should be able to go to a large retail pharmacy and get an emergency supply. Example CVS, Walgreens, or Walmart • Who are some of the organizations that assist with Rebuilds? These are some of the organizations that assist with rebuilds; Christian Aid Ministries, Mennonite Disaster Services, Apostolic Christian World Relief, Lutheran Charities to name a few.

9. What constitutes qualification for rebuild assistance? Each organization has their own set of parameters but basically if a person is financially unable to hire a home building contractor to replace their home then they are a good candidate for rebuild assistance. These organizations do not want to take away from the community by doing jobs that local contractors could do. But they want to aid those that could not build without assistance. There are many varying levels of this. If a survivor has money for materials (FEMA funds, insurance check, or loan) then these organizations come and build labor free. These homes are built from plans that the organizations bring with them. Many times there will be organizations set up within the community itself that will provide financial assistance. These are often referred to as Long Term Recovery Organizations. There are also organizations, which has as one of their missions, to sow funds into such an organization to assist in rebuild effort.

10. Where can a survivor find the organizations and resources which they need to apply? This varies with every disaster. If and when a disaster recovery center (DRC) is set up there will be organizations present. The local churches are also an amazing resource. Social Media as well as the local news stations can also be a viable source. Encourage survivors to set up facebook pages, share info with each other. • What if the survivor has ample insurance to rebuild how do they choose a contractor? BUYER BEWARE! Encourage survivor to choose a local builder that has built in the community prior to the disaster. Make sure that the survivor checks many references as well as the better business bureau. Large track builders are also an option to “stay safe” example Tilson Homes. Organizations that have been in business for a very long time even if they are a national company is usually a safe bet. Encourage the survivor to stay with reputable builders it is not a good idea to go with a start up contractor during times such as these. • What to do when I do not know what to do? Pray and wait, encourage the survivors to take one step at a time.

11. THE DISASTER AFTER THE DISASTER MORTGAGE PAYOFF INFORMATION ATTENTION --- IMPORTANT You are not required to give your insurance check to your mortgage company Insured Rights Keep current mortgage in place Use insurance $ to replace home This information could have enabled 100’s of people to rebuild their homes after the 2011 Bastrop Fires

12. What can happen if you send check to mortgage company: • Mortgage co. pays off your mortgage. Any leftover money is sent to the homeowner/survivor. • Homeowner/survivor may have trouble getting a new home loan. • Homeowner/survivor will have to pay new loan costs. • Homeowner/survivor cannot rebuild their home without a new loan. What can happen if you do not send check to mortgage company: • Homeowner/survivor should notify the mortgage co. of their intent to replace their home(collateral of mortgage) with the insurance check. • Homeowner/survivor should request that the money be put into an escrow account. • Homeowner/survivor should request paperwork from the mortgage co. to set up this account. • The paperwork will include a document for a home building contractor to sign • Send the insurance check and escrow account paperwork to the mortgage co. • The money is placed in a construction account and draws are made while constructing the new home. • IMPORTANT - Mortgage stays in place during the new construction. Homeowner/survivor MUST continue to make mortgage paymentsThe original loan does not change.

13. What if the mortgage company requires a MANDATORY payoff? • DO NOT send insurance check to the mortgage company • DEMAND a letter from the mortgage co. that states they require a Mandatory payoff. • You may have been denied FEMA aid. You may re-apply using this letter from your mortgage co. • GETA MANDATORY PAYOFF LETTER FROM YOUR MORTGAGE CO.BEFORE SENDING THE INSURANCE CHECK TO THE MORTGAGE CO. What you should know about TEXAS LAW HB 1711 • Texas HB 1711 applies to contractors who remove, clean, demolish, reconstruct, or improve properties damaged by natural disasters. • The bill requires certain contracts to be in writing. • Contracts cannot require a down payment. Contracts cannot charge a partial payment that is disproportionate to work that has already been done. • If the contractor’s business address has been in the county or adjacent county where the work occurs for at least one year, it is exempt from this rule.

14. For more information: If your insurance policy information has been lost, the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) can help you locate your agent or insurance company.

15. BASTROP COUNTY LONG TERM RECOVERY TEAM FACT SHEET THE BASTROP COUNTY COMPLEX FIRE • Destroyed 1691 homes, 38 businesses, burned over 34,000 acres and killed 2 people. • Largest Fire in Texas history, the third largest in US history and per capita was the largest fire ever to occur in the US (the population of Bastrop county was only 75,000 people). By comparison, the second largest fire in Texas history occurred in April, 2011 at Possum Kingdom Lake and destroyed 168 homes. • FEMA data indicates approximately 276 homes destroyed had no insurance. • Based on a survey completed by United Policyholders 52% of the homes destroyed were underinsured by an average amount of $75,000. • Based on data obtained from FEMA 747 homes which were destroyed were low income as defined by HUD, with 22% in the “very low income” category. THE BASTROP COUNTY LONG TERM RECOVERY TEAM • The BCLTRT is a 501C3 non-profit corporation. Our office is located at 1106C College Street, Bastrop, Texas. Our phone number is 512-321-2868 and mailing address is P.O. Box 1975, Bastrop, Texas. Our website is www.bcltrt.org., our email address is info@bcltrt.org and you can join our Facebook group Bastrop County Long Term Recovery Team BCLTRT. • The mission of the BCLTRT is to assist uninsured and underinsured individuals and families with recovery from the Bastrop County Complex Fire. This mission is accomplished by having affected individuals and families work closely with a case manager to identify their unmet needs and to assist with obtaining the resources necessary to meet these needs.

16. THE RECOVERY EFFORTS OF THE BCLTRT • Through our volunteers we have coordinated projects on over 1400 properties and assisted literally thousands of fire survivors with their recovery. Volunteers working in conjunction with our organization have worked over 500,000 volunteer hours on everything from debris cleanup to the rebuilding of homes. Other projects have included the building of storage sheds, decks, handicap ramps and skirting for those that replaced their manufactured homes and assisting ranchers with rebuilding fences for their livestock. • As of September 4, 2013, our volunteers and faith based building groups, Mennonite Disaster Services, Christian Aid Ministries, and the NOMADS, have completed 80 homes and have 21 more homes slated for construction. Over the next year, if we are able to obtain enough funding, we have commitments from our faith based builder groups to rebuild an additional 30 homes. Through grants received from the Austin Community Foundation, the Meadows Foundation, Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative, the Collins Foundation, the Albert and Ethel Herzstein Charitable Foundation, and the Union Pacific Foundation and through our funding partners, the Episcopal Diocese of Texas, Austin Disaster Relief Network, Lutheran Social Services Disaster Response, United Methodist Church SWTX Conference, First United Methodist Church Bastrop, Bastrop Christian Ministerial Alliance, Smithville Ministerial Alliance, Bastrop Rotary Club and Presbyterian Churches USA and our fundraising efforts we have funded over $1,700,000 on over 100 projects toward the recovery efforts in Bastrop County.

17. ORGANIZING YOUR RECOVERY TEAM • Certificate of Formation of Non-Profit • Writing the By-Laws • Recruiting Board Members • Enlisting Volunteers • Solicit Funds – Donations and Grants • Unmet Needs Table

18. DISASTER HOUSING RECONSTRUCTION ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA It is the mission of the Bastrop County Long Term Recovery Team (the “BCLTRT”) to assist uninsured and underinsured low income individuals and families with recovery from the Bastrop County Complex Fire (the “Mission”). In order to accomplish this Mission, all clients will be required to meet with a case manager and provide the case manager with all information necessary for the case manager to be able to ascertain the client’s needs, the client’s financial ability to meet those needs and determine the amount of additional financial resources the client needs in order to recover. It is the determination of the Board that shelter is the most pressing and urgent need in Bastrop County as a result of the wildfires. Providing basic shelter shall be the number one priority and the primary program of the BCLTRT shall be the Disaster Housing Reconstruction Program.

19. To be eligible for assistance under the Disaster Housing Reconstruction Program the client must: • Have lost their home in the Bastrop County Complex Fire; and • Either have been uninsured or significantly underinsured; and • Be low income (for purposes of being eligible for financial assistance from the BCLTRT low income will be defined as earning 80% or less of Median Family Income as published by HUD); and • Own the property to be rebuilt on, be current on their property taxes or have a current payment plan in place and not have any other liens on the property that could result in the property being forfeited; and • Not have any or enough other resources available with which to recover on their own. • If the client has some financial resources available to assist with their rebuild, the client must deposit those financial resources with the BCLTRT and the clients financial resources will be utilized first before any donor funds will be used. • If the client is eligible to get a mortgage, the client will be required to obtain a mortgage up to the maximum amount of money the client will qualify for and those funds will be utilized first before any donor funds will be utilized. • If the client has the financial resources available to pay for the cost of the materials only but does not have the financial resources available to pay a builder to rebuild the home then the BCLTRT through its volunteer building partners will assist the client with the volunteer labor to rebuild the home. • If the client does not have resources available with which to rebuild, the BCLTRT will work with all available funding resources to obtain the funds necessary to rebuild the client’s home. • All clients must agree to provide and show proof of insurance on the rebuilt home before they will be allowed to obtain the keys and move in. The case managers will work with the clients to set up a budget that will allow the clients to purchase homeowners insurance.

20. TIME TO REBUILD Reconstruction Design Guidelines • Code Compliance • Energy Efficiency • Affordability Rebuild/Repair Responsibility Flow Chart • Case Management • Construction Management • Volunteer Management

21. “It's clearly a budget. It's got a lot of numbers in it.” George W. Bush

24. “We must consult our means rather than our wishes.” George Washington

30. Don’t forget… Receipts, QuickBooks and an Audit