Well, at long last, some relief for homeowners who've been stuck in limbo three years after Hurricane Ida turned their lives upside down, washing away homes and forcing others to abandon theirs while debt racked up.

Governor Murphy on Wednesday signed into law a measure that will put some victims mortgage payments on hold for a year and give them protections from foreclosure during that same time.

As senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan reports, it took a lot of political wrangling to get the final bill over the finish line.

They protested, they lobbied and they testified.

Finally, three years and two months after Ida dumped eight inches of rain on New Jersey, damaging or destroying thousands of homes.

Some storm survivors will get the help that they've waited and worked for a one year break from mortgage payments.

We asked for Ida survivors what that means for them.

Michelle Belding beamed.

I was shocked.

I was happy, though.

I was happy.

Ecstatic.

Belding family rented for two years after Ida flooded them out of their home in Milford.

Bills piled up.

The same thing.

It wasn't.

It was processing and processing.

So we spent over $37,000 out of pocket renting while paying a mortgage, renting a house, paying a mortgage.

So that rental was significant.

It will give us a breathing room to to get our heads together and get back in the game here.

You know.

Colleen Kane still can't move back home and Lambertville Ida trashed the building, its plumbing, electrical and heating systems and their family's budget.

Right now, I'm almost five months behind on my mortgage, and this will catch me up and remove the threat of foreclosure and losing my home.

You know, it's a huge, huge reaction.

They never gave up.

And this will give them that opportunity truly to try and get their lives right sided.

Senator Troy Singleton's a sponsor of this IDA rescue program, which also shields survivors from foreclosures for a year.

Governor Murphy vetoed his first bill even though the legislature had passed it unanimously.

Singleton then worked with the front office to address the governor's concerns about possible fraud.

The bill Murphy finally signed also eases eligibility requirements to include more survivors.

The administration has worked diligently to begin the process of already thinking through what that back office operation needs to look like to move relief faster.

So I'm pretty confident that we will not have folks waiting too long for this relief.

I think people are surprised that there are still so many people who are displaced or who are in very, very difficult financial situations.

I had a survivor.

Liana Jones works with New Jersey's organizing project, which lobbied hard for this relief program.

She's grateful, but notes.

Ida left so many folks financially underwater.

Some did lose their homes.

I know it will make a big difference to many.

I know it will make a big difference to me, but it is not the end.

The reason that we are in such difficult financial situations is largely in part to the fact that it takes too long for money to reach disaster survivors.

The Department of Community Affairs will process IDA applications and provide a certificate of eligibility to families whose main residence sustained damage and who applied to a list of aid programs now, including Blue Acres.

That opened up eligibility for Debbie Josephs, at.

Least for the next few months.

I can focus on paying down some of my expenses incurred in fixing my house, that there was no way for us to get that money back.

But Josephs, who lives in Manville, is Lost Valley, which is so flood prone, the state DEP won't pay to elevate the homes here.

Her only viable option is taking a Blue Acres buyout.

Because you can't sell it.

You know you can't afford to fix it the way they want you to fix it.

You can't afford to elevate it.

You're forced to sell it back to the state only for them to give you a you know, to tell you this is their offer and you have no choice.

She's one of many Ida survivors facing that dilemma in this drawn out storm recovery.

I'm Brenda Flanagan, NJ.

Spotlight News.