S 5350 United States Senate · 118th Congress

Housing Survivors of Major Disasters Act of 2024

This bill expands disaster assistance eligibility under FEMA for individuals without documented property ownership but who have occupied land or housing in declared disaster areas (e.g., Hurricane Maria victims). It allows FEMA to use funds for title acquisition costs (like surveys and taxes) and creates a self-certification form using common documents (utility bills, pay stubs, school records) to prove occupancy - without requiring notarization. The bill amends the Stafford Act to replace "uninhabitable" with "damaged" in eligibility criteria and prioritizes habitable housing recovery over temporary solutions. It also mandates multilingual forms, 30-day implementation timelines for FEMA, and retroactive access for cases since 2017.
Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Nov 2024
Committee Review
Floor Vote
President
Introduced Nov 20, 2024 Last action Nov 20, 2024
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Total actions
2
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0
Committee
1
Nov 20, 2024
Committee
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
upper
Nov 20, 2024
Introduced
Introduced in Senate
upper
1 primary · 13 co-sponsors

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