WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and their colleagues introduced the Housing Survivors of Major Disasters Act. This legislation comes as the Trump Administration has weakened housing resiliency standards, gutted the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and its hazard mitigation programs, and denied and delayed disaster funding.

The Housing Survivors of Major Disasters Act would make it easier for survivors to access aid by codifying and expanding acceptable forms of documentation that can be used as proof of residence for establishing disaster assistance eligibility, including a pay stub from an employer, a driver's license or state-issued identification card, and school registration. These reforms are needed now more than ever to ensure families and communities can fully recover from more frequent and unpredictable climate disasters, especially as insurance coverage is diminishing and premium costs are rising.

"In Virginia, I've heard from people about how difficult it is to access federal housing assistance after a natural disaster," said Kaine. "These folks should be able to focus on getting back on their feet-not forced to go through a complex and lengthy process to get help. This legislation would make it easier for people to get the housing support they need after disaster strikes."

After devastating climate disasters, like the Southern California Wildfires in January 2025 and Hurricanes Helene and Milton in September 2024, survivors can be left with limited resources to help recover and rebuild their homes, finances, and communities. Even when families turn to FEMA for assistance, their requests for aid can be denied if individuals are unable to provide property titles, written leases, and other similar documents to show residency and occupancy of a home post-disaster - disproportionately impacting those who do not own the property on which they reside like renters and those living in mobile homes.

After Hurricane Maria struck in 2017, 77,000 households in Puerto Rico were wrongfully denied assistance by FEMA due to title documentation issues. While FEMA ultimately made accommodations for those in informal housing and for those who had lost documents in the hurricane, those accommodations were implemented unevenly, and FEMA did not reconsider prior denials of assistance.

Specifically, the Housing Survivors of Major Disasters Act would:

• Allow for disaster relief funds to be used for the acquisition of a property title in regions where a Presidentially-declared disaster has occurred.

• Require FEMA to consider additional forms of housing documentation and evidence when determining assistance eligibility, including a utility bill, merchant statement, pay stub, current driver's license or state-issued ID, property title or mobile home certificate of title, property tax receipt, school registration, a will and testament, a death certificate that established automatic transfer of ownership, medical records, a charitable donation receipt, or any other documentation, certification, identification, or other proof of occupancy or ownership as approved by FEMA that can reasonably link the individual requesting assistance to the applicable property.

• Require FEMA to create a declarative statement form, which would allow a disaster relief applicant to self-certify eligibility for assistance.

• Allow individuals who have previously been denied assistance due to restrictive proof-of-ownership requirements to reopen cases and use new, expanded forms of documentation to become eligible for assistance.

• Allow disaster relief funds to be used for repairs, not just rebuilding homes that have been rendered completely uninhabitable, which will help offset climate displacement.

• Require FEMA and HUD to engage in consultations regarding the implementation of a Disaster Housing Assistance Program, or a similar joint program, within 60 days of a disaster declaration.

"For decades, title documentation barriers have wrongfully prevented many of the lowest-income and most marginalized disaster survivors from accessing FEMA assistance despite owning and residing in disaster-damaged homes," said Renee M. Willis, President and CEO of the National Low Income Housing Coalition. "A family that lives in a mobile home park or a home built by their grandparents deserves the same type of housing assistance offered to all disaster survivors - it is time that FEMA program rules reflect this. The 'Housing Survivors of Major Disasters Act' addresses these issues, providing greater flexibility to ensure disaster survivors receive the assistance for which they are eligible. NLIHC and our Disaster Housing Recovery Coalition of more than 900 organizations urge Congress to quickly advance this bill."

"As more families are affected by the increasing number of severe storms and natural disasters, the Housing Survivors of Major Disasters Act will accelerate the process of accessing disaster relief and recovery assistance," said Vanessa Calderón. Chief Executive Officer, IBA-Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción. "This bill will make it easier on those affected families to show proof of ownership, which will ease the already traumatic experience of facing major property losses."

In addition to Kaine and Warren, the Housing Survivors of Major Disasters Act is cosponsored by Senators Ed Markey (D-MA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Jeff Merkley (D-OR).

The legislation is supported by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), UnidosUS, Hispanic Federation, Americans for Financial Reform, Seven Hills Foundation, and Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción.

Full text of the legislation is available here.

###