Published November 14, 2012
By Andrea Rumbaugh

Within a span of 15 minutes, superstorm Sandy flooded the apartment Jillian Cantor rented at Holiday on the Bay in Toms River.

Cantor, 33, and her boyfriend Michael Aranowicz, 36, tried to move their possessions upstairs, but they couldn't stop the water from seeping into their home. It destroyed most of the belongings downstairs and everything in their shed, where the couple kept fishing poles, family memorabilia and Hanukkah decorations.

"As a renter, it's the worst thing that can happen to you," she said.

The apartment was declared uninhabitable, and Cantor was forced to find a new dwelling. Luckily, a friend's boyfriend had a place they could move into for a few months.

And like Cantor, many renters are finding it both difficult and expensive to find a new home in the wake of Sandy.

"This crisis exacerbates and makes clear the question: Where do people go?" said Arnold Cohen, policy coordinator for the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey.

Along the Jersey Shore, Cohen said there are two types of tenants.

The majority are year-round renters who make the area their permanent homes. For these tenants, relocating is a concern because they don't want to leave their communities or uproot their kids from school.

"It's really devastating because there's a lack of rental housing," he said, "so if they lose what they have, it's going to be difficult to find a place to live in a community that's home to them."

He said the second type of renter is receiving emergency assistance, which is a state program that gives housing assistance to those who would otherwise be homeless.

People on emergency assistance often stay in hotels that offer reduced prices during the winter. However, Cohen is concerned these tenants will be kicked out so hotels can attract other displaced residents who can pay higher prices for housing.

"It would increase homelessness and that also has a cost for society as a whole," Cohen said.

And relocating as a renter can be expensive — especially since tenants often don't have renter's insurance.

"Renters are usually the most vulnerable," said Ed Dowling, owner of Edward R. Dowling Insurance Agency in West Long Branch.

Those with renter's insurance might receive additional living expenses if displaced, but these coverages only extend to certain events —and displacement due to flooding is excluded, he said.

In fact, Dowling said there is no way for renters to receive additional living expenses due to flooding because it's an excluded insured loss. Tenants can buy additional flood protection for their belongings but not for their relocation fees.

"There is technically a gap in there, or hole, in the coverages," he said.

Marshall McKnight, spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance, said the standard renter's insurance policy focuses on a person's contents and expenses for being displaced during covered events, like wind and fire.

Cantor had renter's insurance, but she did not have flood coverage. And while the insurance company initially denied the claim, they later reopened it. Cantor hasn't heard from them since — despite leaving multiple phone messages and e-mails.

She was also denied by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for having insufficient damage, yet she believes there is about $10,000 worth of damages.

"We got denied basically the same day," she said. "I don't see how losing your car is insufficient damage."

On Wednesday, FEMA announced its decision to increase the amount of rental assistance for eligible disaster survivors in New York and New Jersey.

"The rental amount, based on existing HUD Fair Market Rates (FMR) for fiscal 2013, is being increased by an additional 25 percent," FEMA said in a statement. This increase is expected to make an additional 1,200 rental resources available for the temporary housing of disaster-impacted families in New Jersey.

Yet, Cantor misses her home in Toms River. She would like to find another place in that area, or maybe a little north, but she will not live by the water again.

"No more water," she said. "I think I've seen enough to last a lifetime."