Free legal resources are available to low-income individuals affected by flooding in the Central Texas counties included in the federal disaster declaration of July 6 and the state disaster declarations of July 4 and 5.
Texas RioGrande Legal Aid is providing a toll-free legal hotline (833-329-8752) for low-income individuals affected by the disaster who need legal assistance, including:
- Assistance securing government benefits as they are made available to disaster victims;
- Assistance with life, medical, and property insurance claims;
- Help with home repair contracts and contractors;
- Replacement of wills and other important legal documents lost or destroyed in the disaster;
- Consumer protection issues, such as price-gouging and avoiding contractor scams in the rebuilding process;
- Mortgage-foreclosure problems; and
- Landlord-tenant problems.
Additional disaster recovery legal resources are available at texasbar.com/disaster, trla.org/disaster, and texaslawhelp.org.
Following a disaster, the State Bar of Texas reminds the public that, in many cases, it is a crime in Texas for a lawyer or someone representing a lawyer to contact a person for purposes of paid legal representation if the person has not first requested the call or personal visit. If you encounter such conduct, please get the person’s name and phone number and report it to local law enforcement or the State Bar of Texas Chief Disciplinary Counsel’s Office via email at CDCinfo@texasbar.com or toll-free at 866-224-5999.
Donations to support disaster legal aid efforts are being accepted via State Bar of Texas President Santos Vargas’ Stand with Santos campaign at standwithsantos.org, as well as via the Texas Bar Foundation’s Emergency Disaster Relief Fund at txbf.org/emergency-disaster-relief.