Tenants displaced by at The Cooper can apply for low-interest loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration.
However, some residents say they are reluctant to submit applications.
Applications for the disaster-related of up to $100,000 are open to residents of The Cooper whose personal property was damaged by the historic six-alarm fire that displaced more than 800 people on June 23.
SBA spokesperson Africa Rosas urged renters to consider the loans as an alternative to credit card debt. The loan payments are deferred for 12 months with interest rates as low as 2.813%.
鈥淪ome renters may feel that the only way to recover their belongings is through credit card debt that has high interest,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut with these loans, they can get the money and forget about it for a whole year.鈥�
Some former tenants impacted by the fire told the Fort Worth Report they hadn鈥檛 applied for a loan and weren鈥檛 planning to because it鈥檚 鈥渏ust not worth it.鈥�
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 want to pay for something you already paid, then have to pay interest on top of it,鈥� Layana George said. 鈥淚t would be nice if there is some type of compensation.鈥�
Multiple former tenants shared complaints about the loan process, including a denial because of credit history and unfiled taxes, in a private Facebook group for those impacted by the fire.
Rosas said the SBA doesn鈥檛 automatically reject applications because of low credit scores.
鈥淲hat we don鈥檛 want is to give a loan to somebody that cannot repay and put them in a worse situation,鈥� she said.
Some may qualify for other SBA loans if the fire impacted their businesses. Such a loan has a starting interest rate of 3.6255%.
鈥淧erhaps there are some residents that had a business that they were operating from their apartment. If that鈥檚 the case, they can be eligible for up to $2 million for working capital,鈥� Rosas said.
Cooper residents have until Sept. 15 to apply for physical damage loans and April 17 for the business-related economic injury loans.
Residents can apply online at or visit the Disaster Loan Outreach Center at 1100 Hemphill St.
Isaiah Rodriguez is a reporting intern for the Fort Worth Report. He is part of the University of North Texas Scripps Howard Fund Emerging Journalists Program. Contact him at isaiah.rodriguez@fortworthreport.org.
At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy .
This first appeared on and is republished here under a .