WEST MICHIGAN (NEWSCHANNEL 3) - Michigan residents and businesses affected by the severe storms and flooding that occurred in September and October can apply for low-interest disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Acting Administrator for the SBA, Sandy Baruah made the loans available in response to a letter from Governor Jennifer Granholm on November 7^th requesting a disaster declaration by the SBA. The declaration covers primary Kalamazoo County and the adjacent counties of Allegan, Barry, Branch, Calhoun, Cass, St. Joseph and Van Buren.

"Loans up to $200,000 are available to homeowners to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate. Homeowners and renters are eligible for loans up to $40,000 to repair or replace damaged or destroyed personal property," said Frank Skaggs, Director of SBA's Disaster Field Operations Center in Atlanta.

SBA's customer service representatives will be on hand at the Disaster Loan Outreach Center to issue loan applications, answer questions about the SBA's disaster loan program, explain the application process and help individuals complete their applications.

The center open Wednesday November 19^th at 8 a.m. at the Kalamazoo County Fairgrounds, located at 2900 Lake Street in Kalamazoo. The center will be open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and close down December 3^rd at the end of the business day.

"Low-interest Federal disaster loans are available to homeowners, renters, businesses and non-profit organizations of all sizes whose property was damaged or destroyed by the severe storms and flooding," said Richard Temkin, SBA's Michigan District Director.

Businesses and non-profit organizations of any size may borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory, and other business assets. The SBA also offers mitigation loans to disaster victims based on 20 percent of the verified physical damage. These funds are designed to help borrows pay for protective measures to minimize the same kind of damage from occurring in the future.

Interest rates are as low as 2.875 percent for homeowners and renters, and 4 percent for businesses, with terms up to 30 years. Loan amounts and terms are set by SBA and are based upon each applicant's financial condition.

Individuals and businesses unable to visit the Disaster Outreach Center in person may obtain information and loan applications by calling the SBA's Customer Service Center at 1-800-659-2955 or by emailing the customer service center at disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.

Victims may also apply for disaster loans from SBA's website at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela/.

The filing deadline to return applications for physical property damage is January 16, 2009. The deadline to return economic injury applications is August 17, 2009.