To determine legal responsibility, FEMA evaluates whether the applicant had legal responsibility for disaster-related restoration of the facility at the time of the incident based on ownership and the terms of any written agreements. When an applicant owns a facility and leases it to a tenant, FEMA reviews the lease agreement to determine legal responsibility for the repair of disater-related damages. Per the written agreements, the Tenant, not the Applicant, had the responsibility to pay for all interior and exterior building repairs, maintenance, modifications, etc. The Applicant did not demonstrate that it assumed legal responsibility of the Facility prior to the Applicant’s letter relinquishing rights to the Facility, dated eight months after the disaster.

The Applicant has not demonstrated that it had legal responsibility for disaster-related restoration to the Facility at the time of the incident. Therefore, the work is not eligible for PA and this appeal is denied.

Stafford Act § 406(a)(1)(B). 44 C.F.R. § 206.223(a)(3). PAPPG, at 20-21.