Unable To Prove They Own Their Homes, Puerto Ricans Denied FEMA Help

Cynthia Caldero and her husband Obdulio Cordero’s little wooden home was leveled by Hurricane Maria. But they were denied a FEMA repair grant because they couldn’t prove they owned it. After appealing for five months, a nonprofit finally stepped in to helped them rebuild.

Adrian Florido / NPR

José López doesn’t have a deed for the little house at the edge of a dairy farm where he was raised and still lives — only the stories his grandfather told him about how the house came to be.

It began with an agreement between gentlemen 39 years ago. His grandfather, a foreman on the farm, needed a house for his recently divorced daughter, López’s mother. So he asked the farm’s owner if he could have a little corner of the sprawling estate to build her one.

“My grandfather worked on the farm for 44 years,” López said, “and his boss was a good man. He said yes.”