Disaster Response

Disaster Response Legal Services
OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahomans living in the 16 designated counties that were impacted during the February 2021 severe winter storms who need legal assistance but cannot afford an attorney can call the Disaster Legal Services hotline.
The phone number for the legal assistance hotline is 800-522-8065 and is available from 9 a.m. to noon on Wednesdays. The Disaster Legal Services attorneys are not FEMA employees and services are confidential. You can call 2-1-1 outside of those hours.
When you call, explain that you are seeking assistance related to the Oklahoma winter storms that began Feb. 11 and provide your contact information, so an attorney can contact you.
Attorneys can answer questions about:
- Home-repair contracts and contractors.
- Life, medical and property insurance claims.
- Applying to FEMA and appealing FEMA decisions.
Legal assistance also can include:
- Getting a new will and other important legal documents lost or destroyed.
- Consumer-protection issues like price gouging.
- Advice on avoiding contractor scams in the rebuilding process.
- Receiving other available government benefits.
- Landlord-tenant issues.
- Mortgage foreclosures.
The hotline is a partnership between Oklahoma Bar Association, the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division, Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma, Inc., and Oklahoma Indian Legal Services, Inc.
As a reminder, if you are a homeowner or renter who sustained damage in one of the 16 Oklahoma counties designated for individual assistance you should apply for disaster assistance with FEMA. The counties are Canadian, Carter, Cherokee, Comanche, Cotton, Hughes, Jefferson, Le Flore, McIntosh, Oklahoma, Okmulgee, Osage, Pittsburg, Stephens, Tulsa and Wagoner.
The easiest way to apply is by visiting www.disasterassistance.gov. There is no wait to register online and it is accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
If it is not possible to register online, call 800-621-3362 (TTY: 800-462-7585). The toll-free telephone lines operate from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. CDT, seven days a week. Those who use a relay service such as a videophone, Innocaption or CapTel should update FEMA with their specific number assigned to that service
Low-interest disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration are available to businesses, homeowners and renters. Call the SBA at 1-800-659-2955 (TTY: 800-877-8339) or visit www.sba.gov/services/disasterassistance.
Additional Resources
- Oklahoma Attorney General Consumer Protection Unit
The Office of the Attorney General offers tips to help consumers recognize fraud scams. - Oklahoma Insurance Department
The Oklahoma Insurance Department has a helpful page addressing common questions about flood, tornado, wind and hail damage as well as storm-related health issues. For questions about insurance claims or to report insurance fraud, you may also call the Oklahoma Insurance Department consumer assistance number at 800-522-0071. - Oklahoma Lawyers for America's Heroes
This program provides legal advice and assistance free of charge to active duty servicemen and women as well as veterans. Visit www.okbarheroes.org for more information. - Oklahoma Free Legal Answers
Low-income Oklahomans can submit legal questions and a volunteer lawyer will respond at no cost at oklahoma.freelegalanswers.org. Sponsored by the Oklahoma Bar Association, American Bar Association and Oklahoma Supreme Court Access to Justice Commission. - Other resources from the Oklahoma Bar Association
Free information produced by the OBA on more than 20 legal topics is available on the OBA's Free Legal Information page. Printed versions of brochures can even be mailed to Oklahomans for free. Also, a list of low- or no-cost legal assistance in Oklahoma is available on the OBA's Legal Resources page.
The services offered here are offered as a public service, free of charge and for the purpose of providing brief legal advice pursuant to Rule 6.5 of the Oklahoma Rules of Professional Conduct for lawyers. These services are provided in response to the damages caused by the recent severe weather and the need for quick advice. They are provided without expectation that the lawyer will provide continuing representation in the matter. In instances where advice is given pursuant to Rule 6.5 the attorney may not be able to fully check for conflicts of interest, and may not be obligated to disclose a conflict of interest unless he or she has knowledge of it at the time. If representation or legal services are provided beyond what is anticipated herein, the attorney and client should enter into a separate, complete agreement. By making a request through this website, you agree that you have been properly informed of the associated risks and alternatives to the short-term limited legal services to be provided to you, and are aware that strict compliance with all conflict of interest rules is not required of the lawyer.