SWFL homeowner pays $200K out of pocket after Elevate Florida denial

BONITA SPRINGS, Fla. - More than 10,000 applications have been withdrawn from Elevate Florida, a federally funded program designed to help homeowners raise their homes above flood levels.

WINK News has been hearing from homeowners over the past year asking for answers on why they have been denied or delayed by the program.

Bill Athey is one of those homeowners.

After flooding from Hurricanes Ian, Helene and Milton, Athey was hoping the program would help prepare his Bonita Springs home for future storms.

But after months of paperwork and working with case managers, Athey received an email saying his application was denied. The email also noted his application would technically be considered "withdrawn."

"We didn't withdraw, they withdrew us," Athey said.

Athey says the process dragged on for months without clear updates.

"They carried you along from, you know, February to August, that's seven months, basically. And you thought you were making progress with the program, and you're basically strung along," Athey said.

Nearly a year after being denied, Athey decided to hire a private contractor to get the work done on his own.

The cost difference was significant.

"Elevate Florida, they were going to pay 75% of the elevation cost, so that cost is about a little over $200,000. So $200,000 out of my pocket versus if Elevate Florida was assisting, their grant would have been $150,000, 75% of it, and we'd pay $50,000." Athey said.

Athey also wants other homeowners considering the program to go in with realistic expectations.

"If you are new to this program, you have to recognize that you can have false hopes, and you know your false hopes could lead you down a path where you know it takes you six seven months to realize you're denied," Athey said.

Athey also raised concerns about how the program tracks and reports its numbers.

"They need to have well communicated and well statusing of where you are in the process and why you got denied, oversubscribed, and saying to 10,000 out of the 12,000 people that applied, you know, withdrew is inaccurate. That's not factual," Athey said.

WINK News reached out to Elevate Florida for more clarity on the withdrawn application numbers shown on their dashboard. While we still wait for answers on the clarity of withdrawn application numbers, the program previously responded to our request about the application process, saying: 

"There are several steps that take place in the Review and Decision stages. In Review, each application is reviewed by the Elevate Florida team, all required forms are collected, pre-construction inspections are conducted, and the FEMA application is developed and finalized. Additionally, the FEMA application is reviewed by the State (FDEM) review team to ensure the application meets all necessary requirements before being submitted to FEMA. Once submitted to FEMA, the status will move to Decision; FEMA finalizes their review, including an Environmental and Historic Preservation (EHP) compliance review, and makes the award Decision. A more detailed overview of the process is available in the Program’s Property Owner Guide."