Soto Introduces Protect Our Homes Act to Improve Disaster Relief and Lower Housing Costs

Image June 5, 2026 Press Release The Protect Our Homes Act establishes a loan program within the U.S. Small Business Administration to help communities repair residential common areas after disasters WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Congressman Darren Soto (D-FL-09) introduced H.R. 9159, the Protect Our Homes Act —legislation to establish a loan program within the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to help communities repair residential common areas after natural disasters and/or protect property from future disasters. This includes low-cost loans to Condominium, Townhome, and Homeowners Associations. This bill may also reduce costly special assessments for homeowners over the long term. “In Florida, we are no strangers to hurricanes. We’ve seen wind and flooding damage to planned communities in BVL, Meadow Woods, St. Cloud, Belle Isle, and other areas across our district. It is critical that we continue finding ways to help these communities recover common areas like roofs, walls, sidewalks, clubhouses, and other common areas after storms,” said Rep. Soto . “Today, I am proud to introduce the bipartisan Protect Our Homes Act to establish a loan program within the SBA to help Floridians restore their communities and reduce costly special assessments after storms.” The Protect Our Homes Act establishes a loan program within the SBA for entities responsible for managing residential common areas (e.g., homeowner associations, apartment complex property managers): These loans would be used to repair residential common areas damaged by natural disasters The loan funds can also be used as mitigation efforts to protect property from possible future disasters The bill is co-sponsored by Rep. Jimmy Patronis (R-FL-01) . Upon introduction, it was referred to the House Committee on Small Business. Click here for the full text of the bill . ###