LAREDO, Texas — Texas property managers, tenants, landlords and real estate owners who were impacted by Hurricane Alex and subsequent flooding can make use of free legal assistance and counseling.
Working in cooperation with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the American Bar Association/Young Lawyers Division, the Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid attorneys are available to assist low-income applicants with legal issues and concerns. These attorneys are available to give free legal services in a fair, nondiscriminatory and equitable way.
The Disaster Legal Services hotline is 1-800-504-7030, 24 hours/7 days a week. The kind of legal help available includes, but is not limited to: Help with insurance claims (life, medical, property, etc.); Counseling on landlord-tenant and other housing problems; Assistance with home repair contracts; Assistance in consumer protection matters, remedies and procedures; Counseling on mortgage foreclosure problems; Replacement of wills and other important documents destroyed in a major disaster; Drafting of powers of attorney/estate administration; and Referring individuals to local or state agencies that might be of further assistance.
Callers should be prepared to discuss particular legal problems caused by the disaster and to provide a current contact phone number. To be eligible for this free legal assistance, they must reside in one of the eight counties designated for Individual Assistance under the federal disaster declaration for Hurricane Alex.
Disaster Legal Services is a federally funded program run under an agreement between the American Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Legal Representatives are also available at several FEMA-State Disaster Recovery Centers (DRCs) operating throughout affected counties.
Texas counties designated for Individual Assistance as a result of Hurricane Alex are Cameron, Hidalgo, Jim Hogg, Maverick, Starr, Val Verde, Webb and Zapata.
For more information on the Hurricane Alex disaster recovery, browse the features on this FEMA Web site at www.fema.gov/hazard/hurricane/2010/alex/index.shtm. Users of smart phones and other mobile devices can visit m.fema.gov. Texans should also visit www.txdps.state.tx.us/dem for more information on this disaster and preparation for future disasters.
The mission of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, Texas Department of Public Safety, is to support the citizens of Texas and local jurisdictions as they plan for, respond to, recover from and mitigate the impacts of all hazards, emergencies and disasters. For more information, see: www.txdps.state.tx.us/dem.
FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.
Reported by: FEMA
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