ORANGE — Rene Mulholland’s home in Bridge City received four feet of water inside and she had no flood insurance. Her house suffered $200,000 worth of damage.

She first spoke with FEMA who recommended she speak with the Small Business Administration about receiving some help.

“Everything’s good. It’s a lot of stuff to go through, but not hard stuff. They’ve been helpful,” Mulholland said. “They helped me refinance my mortgage at a lower interest rate. It helps a lot.

“I brought my closing documents and the loan is done in increments. I signed from my insurance company and saved my receipts. They explained it very well and they assigned help just for me.”

Sandra Faubert, SBA customer service representative team leader at the Disaster Recovery Center, DRC, in Orange said they are receiving applications and closing loans.

“Closing is very important. After we’ve closed, it takes three to five days with direct deposit to receive the $14,000 unsecured for businesses, homeowners and renters. The loans are distributed from the U.S. Treasury,” Faubert said. “The process may slow down if all of the information is not there. Applicants need to make sure it’s filled out before submitting. The application is much easier to complete than an income tax return and they can finish at the DRC if they have the documents with them. The business application is only two pages, however, it asks for several supporting documents.”

Additionally, applicants may make copies on their own, or bring in the documents to DRC to be copied.

Faubert said she hasn’t seen any irate registrants in the office. She said she’s more apt to have people become emotional when they begin to see some daylight.

“I haven’t seen disappointed applicants. I’m blessed with a great team who put forth a lot of effort. We can calm them down and get to the root of the problem,” she said. “Some may not really have to take a loan out. For those who do, we encourage them with a closing and put the loan on the shelf and they can take up to six months to move forward. We just ask them every 30 days to notify us of their status. There’s a lot of flexibility on the back end.”

Most borrowers are generally good about paying back their loans, Faubert said. Some will borrow and not use the entire amount, but the loan will be there if they need it. Some who are still paying Rita loans may call the service center and ask to suspend payments on their Rita loans for an Ike loan and defer payments for six months or a year.

If the loan is above $14,000, it must be secured with some collateral. Later, after making payments the borrower may change the collateral in rare cases.