TAMPA, Fla. — Residents all over the Bay area are still displaced from their homes after the recent storms.

Many are still waiting on permits from the city or struggling to find available contractors to do repairs.

There are some options to help you, like mortgage forbearance depending on your provider.

Many Bay area residents have had to relocate from their homes since Hurricane Helene. Many are living in short term rentals.   

But there could be help for homeowners, if they know where to look and how to ask.

At Greg Cowen’s home on Davis Islands, a renovation project that started before Helene has been stalled for weeks.

Inside, the furniture, floors and cabinets are gone. The drywall is gutted two feet up.

And although his family pictures are still on the wall, they are living miles away at a rental because they can’t live here.

“We got probably about 6 inches of water throughout the house,” Cowen said. “You can still smell it. You can still smell it, no matter how much we got it cleaned up.”

Cowen is an independent real estate broker.

His Cowen Property Group has been around for 20 years and despite being an expert in the field his family situation is still a struggle.

The paperwork for insurance and permitting aside, the mortgage is still due every month on top of what they are paying for their rental.

And that is a financial challenge for thousands of homeowners statewide as they wait for repairs.

“We are all competing for subcontractors, for materials, and so we are hoping for faster but you know you got to be conservative in these types of situations and you absolutely have to be patient,” he said.

But being patient doesn’t mean you can’t be proactive.

Cowen has applied for a forbearance with his mortgage company. That’s a three-month reprieve from mortgage payments that get tacked on to the back of the loan.

Broker Shawn Miller with Vandyk Mortgage in Tampa said not all mortgage servicers may offer a forbearance, but he says be persistent and ask the questions.

“Communicate with your servicer,” Miller said. “You know I’m not sure what the options will be but communicate. ‘Hey listen, I’m still paying for an Air BNB or I am still paying for a month to month rental and I’m not going to be able to swing both payments, what can I do.’”

FEMA offers housing assistance for people who are displaced after a disaster.

That can include rental assistance if you can't live in your own home, reimbursement money if you had to use a hotel or motel, money for home repairs or help to make specific repairs for people with disabilities.

To apply for FEMA aid, go to https://www.disasterassistance.gov/.