Recovery,
Rebuilding,
& Resiliency
Breaking News: Department of Local Affairs
Will Wind Down Applications for the
State of Colorado’s Housing Recovery Program
Will Wind Down Applications for the
State of Colorado’s Housing Recovery Program
In this main application, you can request funding for the Rebuild Grant, the Housing Support Program, Unmet Needs, and the Boulder County Tax Rebate. Read more about these programs below.
Read about the Programs Included in the Main Application
Community Foundation Boulder County Rebuild Grant
Community Foundation Boulder County Rebuild Grant CFBC’s Rebuild Grant is $20,000 for eligible households. Households may qualify for additional funds based on income, dependents, and other factors. For questions about the CFBC Rebuild program, email rebuild@impactdf.org.
Community Foundation Boulder County Housing Support
This is for households facing ALE (additional living expenses) expiration by their insurance company within 60 days of submitting this application. For questions about the Housing Support program, email alehelp@impactdf.org.
Community Foundation Boulder County Unmet Needs Grant
The CFBC Unmet Needs grants provide financial support to fire-impacted community members with immediate fundamental needs as a result of significant loss initiated by the Marshall Fire event. For questions about the Unmet Needs program, email unmetneeds@impactdf.org.
Boulder County Use Tax Rebate
The Boulder County Use Tax Rebate is intended to reimburse property owners who have chosen to rebuild their residence and have paid the County Use Tax through the permitting process. For questions about the BCTR program, email usetaxrebate@impactdf.org.
Other Forms
Colorado Energy Office Recovery Electrification Rebate
This rebate is for households impacted by disasters since 2018 for houses that were destroyed or damaged in areas of a state or federally-declared disaster. Residents may qualify for up to $20,000 in rebates for the installation of one of the options: 1) A cold climate heat pump, electric or induction stove and a heat pump water heater; 2) A ground source (geothermal) heat pump, electric or induction stove and a heat pump water heater; and 3) Installation of a ground source (geothermal) heat pump only. For questions, please email ceorebate@impactdf.org.
These Programs Have Closed Applications
(These programs are still operating; however, these are no longer accepting new applications)
(These programs are still operating; however, these are no longer accepting new applications)
State of Colorado Housing Recovery Program (HRP) Rebuild and Mitigation
HRP offers traditional loans up to $50,000 or forgivable loans up to $100,000 to rebuild depending on household income. In addition, mitigation funding is available up to $30,000. For questions about the HRP program, email hrphelp@impactdf.org.
State of Colorado $5,000 Wind and Wildfire Protection Mitigation
Up to $5,000 grant is available for disaster mitigation measures (i.e., home hardening). For questions about the $5k mitigation program, email mitigationhelp@impactdf.org.
Other Forms for the State of Colorado’s Housing Recovery Program
The following forms are supplementary for the State of Colorado’s Housing Recovery Program (HRP). Do NOT fill out these forms if you have not completed an application. If applying for Mitigation funds through HRP, the contractor will need to fill out the form and certify the plans for eligible items by filling out the Contractor Mitigation Form. If you have an especially complicated rebuild with many costs outside of the General Contractor’s Estimate, you may want to submit a Rebuild Estimate Form to ensure we have received the picture of the full cost of construction. Lastly, the HRP Duplication of Benefits Form is a form that should only be completed if the underwriter has asked you to, as this will need to be completed close to award/closing, and there is currently a long list of applicants. For questions about forms, please email hrphelp@impactdf.org.
Need Assistance?
Call Impact Development Fund’s
Disaster Recovery Office
Disaster Recovery Office
Disaster Recovery Office hours:
Monday – Friday
8 am – 5 pm
Schedule Appointment:
Book a virtual appointment
Book in-person assistance
Frequently Asked Questions
¿Habla español y necesita asistencia? Envíe un correo electrónico a la especialista en admisión, Elizabeth DeLeone, a elizabeth@impactdf.org. Elizabeth le ayudará a completar la solicitud. Si prefiere, también puede contactarla en su línea directa al (970) 541-2466
It depends on which program you are applying for. If you are applying for multiple programs, you will receive different response rates for each program of your application. If all required documentation is provided and sufficient, we can process applications more quickly.
As of the beginning of June 2024, for complete applications, processing times are 1-2 weeks for the CFBC Unmet Needs and Housing Support programs and are generally funded within the month. Processing times are also 1-2 weeks for the Boulder County Tax Rebate and the Wind and Wildfire Mitigation grants and are also typically funded within the month as well. The CFBC Rebuild Grant program has recently been recovering from a backlog with 4-5 month delays. The Rebuild Grants are now processing within approximately 8 weeks! The Colorado Energy Office Rebates are currently being reviewed quite quickly within 2 weeks; however, the payments are quite delayed, so applicants should expect 3-4 months until funding disbursement.
The State of Colorado Housing Recovery Program is experiencing high demand and significant delays. We assure you that the program is active and is awarding and funding applicants every week; however, most applicants currently being awarded have been in the pipeline over 8 months. The program is also very complex, so applicants should prepare for ongoing document collection, requests, and various forms to complete. In 2024, we added additional staff to the program, and the team is working tirelessly to process applications and distribute awards as quick as possible. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you very much for your patience.
If you ever have any questions about where your applications are at in the process, you can email the program emails directly for the specific program you are interested in, call the Disaster Recovery office line, or set up an appointment, and we will get back to you with a report on the status of all your applications.
It is our goal to help people qualify for these programs. Each program has its own set of program guidelines, calculation rules, and documentation needs. If you are in one of the rebuilding programs and are receiving a request for more invoices or more recent insurance papers, the underwriter is likely trying to validate the gap by capturing the full rebuilding cost and the more accurate payoff by the insurance company. If you have a very unique case that doesn’t fit perfectly within the guidelines, the underwriter may be gathering more information so they can present your case to management or to State partners or to the CFBC committee. We understand that pulling additional documents together can be difficult, and we are sorry for the struggle this may cause. Ultimately, as Program Administrator, it is our goal to help survivors qualify for all forms of funding assistance, within the parameters of the program guidelines.
For rebuilding, the Housing Recovery Program requires an initial Claim Statement and an updated Summary of Loss issued within the last six months. CFBC’s Rebuild Grant requires an an initial Claim Statement and an updated Summary of Loss issued within the last 90 days.
The initial Claim Statement may go by other names depending on the agency, but what we are looking for will indicate that it is an “initial estimate” or what the “insurance limits” are and this document was likely issued soon after the disaster. Regarding more recent documentation, if the information on file for your application is not within the above time frames at time of underwriting, Impact Development Fund will request an updated Summary of Loss. The Summary of Loss document’s name may also vary agency to agency (other examples include: Settlement Summary, Statement of Loss, or Coverage Summary). This document will indicate an open insurance claim, how much has been paid out to date and what remains. This will be a document issued by your insurance agency. The purpose is to help confirm a more accurate, up-to-date picture of your insurance payout, and thus helps confirm the “rebuilding gap” number — the difference between costs to rebuild and insurance received.
The Summary of Loss, or similar document, must be a legitimate document issued by the insurance agency. It should not be an editable form, an excel document, or anything else that can be doctored. If you have not received a recent Summary of Loss, you can request one from your insurer. Insurance agencies are required to send a Summary of Loss upon request. If you are having issues receiving insurance documentation, you can reach out to the Division of Insurance in Colorado’s Department of Regulatory Affairs for assistance.
For support with rental assistance or mortgage assistance, the Housing Support Program requires a recent Summary of Loss, or similar document, indicating the end of additional living expense support (or “ALE”). This is a separate type of coverage outside of dwelling and contents and will be indicated on the statement. This program also requires a letter or email from an insurance agent indicating that ALE coverage has ended and/or was denied an extension. For more questions on what is needed for this program, email alehelp@impactdf.org.
If you are sending documents outside of the general application, we suggest using PandaDoc or Dropbox. The Disaster Recovery Intake Team uses secured Dropbox folders, which notify the Intake Specialist when something is uploaded. We also suggest sending an email to the Intake Specialist you are working with or to the program email indicating that you would like to upload something into the Dropbox. The team also uses PandaDoc to send out document request lists, which has spots to upload files. This is the same portal that we use to issue award letters and close on loans. PandaDoc is similar to a DocuSign or other reputable platform that validates signatures and files. If you have any questions about how to send documents, please call the Disaster Recovery hotline.
This is from the Department of Local Affairs’ website:
Duplication of benefits is a review to determine if more funding was provided through various sources than was needed to complete the work of renovation or rebuilding after a disaster. Those receiving disaster assistance funding are asked during the process to list the resources they have available for the project and to sign an affidavit stating that the list is accurate. Federal regulations prohibit the State from providing assistance that duplicates any other benefits received and exceeds the total rebuilding or renovation need of the recipient. When determining the rebuilding gap to calculate an award, the State Housing Recovery Program (HRP) is required to consider all funding sources that applicants have available to them to help rebuild or repair.
You can read more about what Duplication of Benefits is and how it might affect you on the Department of Local Affairs’ Duplication of Benefits webpage.
If you are in Housing Recovery Program underwriting, a member of the Disaster Recovery Team will be in touch with you about filling out the online form. We suggest waiting until your file is in-review and you have been reached out to, since the current queue for the Housing Recovery Program is very long, and we will need up-to-date information prior to the award. If you have been reached out to about this, and are looking for the link to the online form, please click the button below and follow the instructions. If you have questions, please email hrphelp@impactdf.org.
The Department of Local Affairs’ Housing Recovery Program requires income verification. Applicants will be asked to submit an IRS Form 1040 (or multiple forms if there are several contributing household members not accounted for). Applicants will also be asked if their income has changed since the IRS filing. If yes, the underwriter will request additional information. If no, the applicants will be asked to certify their income has not changed with a signed affidavit.
CFBC’s Rebuild Grant does not require income verification to apply and receive the base-level grant; however, low-to-moderate income households are encouraged provide income documentation to see if they might qualify for additional funding. Applicants who want to be considered for this may be asked for additional information to determine income. Please note the Rebuild Grant and HRP determine and calculate income differently.
The Department of Local Affairs’ $5,000 Wind And Wildfire Protection Mitigation does not require income verification.
CFBC’s Housing Support Program requires income verification. Eligible recipients must be at or below 150% of area median income. Applicants will be asked for their tax return. For more information review the program guidelines.
CFBC’s Unmet Needs Program requires income verification. Applicants must demonstrate financial need and will be asked to submit information about their financial situation. They may also be asked for a tax return or other income documents.
The Boulder County Tax Rebate and the Colorado Energy Office’s Recovery Electrification Rebate do not require income verification.
For repair and rebuilding costs, both the State’s Housing Recovery Program and the Foundation’s Rebuild Grant support repair and rebuilding financial assistance for smoke and ash damaged homes; however, both programs have different requirements to validate smoke and ash damage eligibility. The Housing Recovery Program requires homes to be located within the county of a state or federally-declared disaster area, as listed on the Program’s guidelines, and smoke and ash damage must be certified by an IICRC-certified technician. The Community Foundation of Boulder County’s Rebuild Grant is intended for survivors of catastrophic smoke and ash and reviews smoke and ash applications on a case by case basis. They use a 5-point system to confirm “substantial structural damage” and the point system is outlined in the program guidelines.
For other forms of support, CFBC’s Housing Support Program and Unmet Needs grants are both eligible to survivors of smoke and ash damaged properties. The Boulder County Tax Rebate is not eligible for smoke and ash damaged homes; it is only intended for fully destroyed properties that are rebuilding.
CFBC’s Rebuild Grant welcomes all property owners to apply; this includes properties that were rentals prior to the fire and/or will be rentals in the future. Properties will need to meet other criteria, so please visit the program guidelines to learn more about eligibility. Landlords owning multiple properties may apply for each affected property. Each property will be reviewed for the insurance coverage, construction costs, and rebuilding gap for that specific property. The Boulder County Tax Rebate is to available for all eligible property owners (owner and renter occupied); however, this is limited to only structures that were fully destroyed.
Previously, on this webpage, the Department of Local Affairs’ Landlord Recovery Program was listed as a forthcoming application. This program is since being run by the State and will not be made available through Impact Development Fund. You can read more about that forthcoming program here. If you have questions about the Landlord Recovery Program, please email will.cundiff@state.co.us if you have interest or questions.
Without additional information, there are several programs that will most likely NOT be a fit for a landlord whose investment property or rental property was destroyed or damaged. We suggest avoiding these applications or reaching out with more questions or details about your case to find out if you are a fit. CFBC’s Housing Support Program is intended for residents who were displaced as a result of the fire. The State’s general Housing Recovery Program and Mitigation Grants are intended to be for primary residences/owner-occupied units at the time of the fire and to be the primary residence upon rebuilding as well. If you have questions about this please reach out to hrphelp@impactdf.org.
