TRENTON, N.J. – The New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA) received a report that an individual who applied for a ‘reNew Jersey Stronger’ housing assistance grant was contacted by phone and notified that they had won a grant to rebuild their home from the “Renewjerseystronger Foundation.” The caller then indicated that the applicant was required to pay a fee to apply for the grant.
Applicants to the ‘reNew Jersey Stronger’ Housing Assistance Program are advised that there is no fee to apply. Information pertaining to the ‘reNew Jersey Stronger’ program can be found online at www.renewjerseystronger.org. People can apply for free online or by calling 1-855-SANDYHM (1-855-726-3946). Additionally, there will be Sandy Housing Recovery Centers opening June 8 where applicants may apply in person. Locations and directions to the centers will be posted at www.renewjerseystronger.org as the information becomes available.
The ‘reNew Jersey Stronger’ program was launched May 24, 2013. Grants awarded through the program are designed to encourage Sandy-impacted homeowners to resettle in their primary residences and help them reconstruct, rehabilitate, elevate and mitigate their homes.
Individuals who are contacted by anyone requesting a fee for the grant application are urged to report the attempted fraud to the New Jersey Attorney General’s Statewide Sandy Fraud Working Group.
New Jersey Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa created the Working Group as the State’s central clearinghouse for data-gathering, investigation, and prosecution of civil and criminal fraud related to Superstorm Sandy and the disaster recovery process. Victims or witnesses of fraud should contact the Working Group at 855-SANDY39 (855-726-3939) or www.StopSandyFraud.org.