FHA 203(h) Disaster Loans in Washington

DR-4906, declared April 7, 2026 for the December 2025 storms, flooding, landslides and mudslides, designated 26 areas for Individual Assistance. The counties are Chelan, Grays Harbor, King, Lewis, Pacific, Pierce, Skagit, Snohomish, Thurston and Whatcom. Sixteen tribal areas are also designated: the Chehalis, Lummi, Muckleshoot, Nisqually, Nooksack, Puyallup, Quinault, Sauk-Suiattle, Shoalwater Bay, Snoqualmie, Squaxin Island, Stillaguamish, Swinomish, Tulalip and Upper Skagit reservations, plus the Samish TDSA. Twenty-three further areas received Public Assistance only, which funds public infrastructure repair and does not make individual borrowers eligible.

No — and this catches a lot of people out. The 203(h) clock runs from the date of the Presidential declaration, not the date of the disaster. These storms hit in December 2025 but the major disaster declaration did not come until April 7, 2026, so applications are open until April 7, 2027. However long your repairs or insurance claim have dragged on, the window is measured from that April date.

April 7, 2027 — one year from the declaration. That is a firm date, and missing it is the single most common reason disaster victims never use this program.

Possibly, yes — and this is the part almost nobody knows. You did not have to own the home you lost. If you were renting in one of the designated counties or tribal areas and that residence was destroyed, or damaged badly enough that it has to be rebuilt or replaced, 203(h) may let you buy a home of your own with no down payment.

They solve different problems and are not interchangeable. Section 184 is for enrolled members of federally recognised tribes and is not tied to a disaster; 203(h) is tied to a declared disaster and waives the down payment for anyone whose home was destroyed, tribal membership or not. If both are open to you, the better choice depends on where you are buying, whether you are rebuilding, and what the property is. It is worth a conversation rather than a guess.

No. The replacement home does not have to be in the disaster area. If it makes more sense for your family to move to another part of Washington, or to another state where we are licensed, 203(h) still applies.

Yes. We pair 203(h) with an FHA one-time close construction-to-permanent loan, so a single loan covers the rebuild and then becomes your permanent mortgage — one closing, and no mortgage payments while the home is under construction. Construction lending is our specialty, which is why we can structure this when many lenders cannot.

No. These programs are designed to work alongside each other, and most families end up using more than one. Talk to us about how your FEMA grant, insurance settlement, or SBA loan fits with the mortgage — the sequencing can matter, and we would rather help you plan it than have you guess.