SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — San Diego flood victims may now qualify for a new state mortgage relief program meant to ease some of the financial burden of natural disasters.
Nearly a year and half after historic flooding inundated parts of San Diego, some residents in hard hit areas are still rebuilding and the bills keep adding up.
“The original estimates that I’ve received was $435,000. So I’m a long way off from that,” said Southcrest resident Greg Montoya, whose Beta Street home is one of several severely damaged by the historic rainstorm in January 2024.
Montoya said he’s already spent more than $100,000. The majority of the cost was covered by flood insurance and some from FEMA dollars, but the rest out of pocket.
A new program called CalAssist Mortgage Fund, consisting of $105 million, is giving him hope for a little extra help.
Eligible homeowners whose homes were destroyed or left uninhabitable by a disaster between January 2023 and January 2025 can apply for three months of mortgage payments up to $20,000.
Applicants’ annual income in San Diego County must be below $172,000 to qualify.
“The application is really easy. If you have all the documents, it takes less than 30 minutes to apply. The documents are all very easily available online, like a mortgage statement or your bank account statement,” said Rebecca Franklin, Chief Deputy Director at the California Housing Finance Agency which oversees the fund.
The program operates on a first come first serve basis and Franklin said the goal is to help 10,000 households statewide.
When it comes to the hard-hit Southcrest neighborhood, some are done with repairs.
“Fortunately for me I was able to find a contractor that would do all the work for the $250,000 which to me is a lot of money,” said neighbor Josh Roche.
Roche considers himself lucky that insurance came through, but he and his family still had out of pocket expenses.
“Especially immediately you know when we were completely displaced the city hadn’t started their program where we were staying in the hotels. A lot of extra commuting. A lot of time lost from work,” Roche said.
While residents said they’re grateful for any help, some are still pointing the finger.
“The city should find the means to make everybody complete and start paying people because it was preventable,” said neighbor Greg Montoya.
Residents can apply for the CalAssist Mortgage Fund starting Thursday. More information can be found here.
