 The University of Minnesota Extension and North Dakota State University Extension service have developed Recovery After Disaster, the family financial toolkit to assist in financial recovery from disaster. The toolkit is free and available at this website. In a perfect world, we would be prepared for a disaster, but we know that this is not always the case. This video series has been developed to assist in the immediate need for financial recovery information following a disaster. The six videos in this series will identify important financial considerations for your disaster recovery. Following a disaster, there may be a variety of financial resources available. Many resources and options may be available whether or not the disaster has been federally declared for individual and personal assistance. Some assistance options may be available immediately, and others may become available throughout the recovery process. It is important to stay informed in order to be aware of new resources as they become available. Some communities may organize long-term recovery committees. These committees can assist you with obtaining information about resources as they become available. In this video, we will explore volunteer legal and financial considerations as you access these resources. As we look at the sequence of disaster assistance graphic, note that assistance from voluntary organizations is listed first and last. Actually, assistance from a variety of volunteer groups may be available at different stages throughout recovery. Assistance may include volunteers working with you along with donations of materials and financial assistance. The video, Finding Help, provides information about the types of volunteer services that may be available during disaster recovery. One of the biggest decisions you will make in recovery is what to do with your damaged home. Some of your options may be rebuilding, selling as is, buyout or acquisition, voluntary foreclosure, bankruptcy. Let's review each of these options. If you choose to rebuild, you will want to assess the financial resources available to you, determine unmet needs as you rebuild, and lastly, determine the amount of an additional payment you can afford. This may be an appropriate time to talk with a financial professional, a lender, financial planner or financial counselor. You may want to view the video My Finances, which provides a discussion of understanding your financial resources. If you don't have insurance or don't have enough insurance, then you can tap into some federal and state resources such as FEMA and your state may offer some disaster resources. Once those two have covered your losses, then you move into what we call an unmet needs area. And there may be other resources that come in during a disaster that will cover some of those unmet needs. They may be donations, they may be volunteer help, they can be a wide variety of things. You'll learn about those resources for unmet needs through your long-term recovery committee. Another option may be to sell your home as is. There may be a market to sell damaged homes to developers who rebuild and remodel homes for sale. When making a decision about what to do with your home, determine if your property may be bought out through a government process known as acquisition. When the county decided that they would participate in the flood buyout project, then my husband and I went to the county seat and took part in a meeting and signed up and started the process. We had to submit pictures and history of that property and all of the flooding that had gone through. We also had to submit any ways that we had used FEMA dollars in the past as well. And so tracking everything is very important. I would recommend having even a form that you would fill out every time that said, who did you talk to? What time? Who did you call? What did you request? What's the action? What's the next follow-up step? If you have reviewed your finances and determined that you cannot meet your financial obligations and take on additional debt, you may find that voluntary foreclosure and bankruptcy are options to consider. Always seek the advice of a financial professional before making these decisions. Communication is the key. It can be a very overwhelming prospect to have to call a creditor and let them know that based upon a circumstance such as a disaster, it can compromise your ability to pay your debts on time. But communication is the key there because otherwise if we're not communicating to our creditors, they can only assume what our intentions are. If there's no contact, no communication, the interpretation might be that you have no intent to pay on your loans. They might not know that these things have happened. And without communicating with them and without reaching out to them, you might not know what options that they have available. The hope that we would have is that people would actually look for more information and keep asking questions until they feel that they can make an informed decision. If they choose to go this option, they won't be able to get any kind of a financing for a home loan for at a minimum three years. If bankruptcy is an option that should be considered, there are some pros and cons that individuals should think about. One big pro is that bankruptcy is incredibly therapeutic and provides tremendous relief to individuals who are weighed down. One of the cons is that it may negatively affect their credit score, but there are situations where it may actually help their credit score. So it just depends on each individual situation on whether or not they should or should not file bankruptcy. We have just reviewed some of the options available for determining what you will do with your home. Be sure to take your time and make your decision with full knowledge of your finances and how each will affect your future. In the last few minutes, we have learned about the variety of options and resources that are available whether or not the disaster has been federally declared for individual and personal property. It is important to remember that some assistance options may be available immediately and others may become available throughout the recovery process. Connect with others to stay informed about new resources as they become available. The Long-Term Recovery Committee can assist you with obtaining information about resources as they become available. Talking with legal and financial professionals can provide you with information to make the best decisions for your situation. Advocate for yourself and your family by asking questions, staying informed, and seeking out resources throughout the recovery process as you begin to create your new reality. We encourage you to view all of the financial recovery after disaster videos, the Family Financial Toolkit and other materials at this website.