News

NC Bar offers free legal help post-Helene

By Lightning Reports, Published: October 2, 2024

A toll-free legal aid hotline is now available for survivors of Tropical Storm Helene in North Carolina. Disaster Legal Services, which allows callers to request the assistance of a lawyer, is a partnership between the North Carolina Bar Association and Foundation, Legal Aid of North Carolina, the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Low-income survivors with disaster-related legal questions may call the disaster legal assistance hotline at 866-219-5262. Callers should identify that they are seeking storm-related legal assistance, ask for Disaster Legal Services assistance, and identify the county in which they are located. Survivors who qualify for assistance will be matched with North Carolina lawyers who have volunteered to provide free legal help.

Legal assistance is available for the following issue areas:

• FEMA appeals
• Disaster Unemployment Assistance and other disaster benefits
• Insurance claims
• Home repair contracts and contractor disputes
• Contractor fraud and consumer protection matters
• Replacement of wills and other important legal documents destroyed in the disaster
• Mortgage-foreclosure 
• Landlord/tenant problems

Individuals who qualify for assistance will be matched with North Carolina lawyers who have volunteered to provide free, limited legal help. Survivors should be aware that there are some limitations on disaster legal services. For example, assistance is not available for cases that will produce a fee (i.e., those cases where fees are paid part of the settlement by the court).

Major Disaster Declaration
A total of 26 North Carolina counties and tribes have been approved to receive federal assistance in the wake of Tropical Storm Helene. The counties are: Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, Clay, Cleveland, Gaston, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Lincoln, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Transylvania, Watauga, Wilkes and Yancey counties and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (additional counties may be added later).

People who sustained property damage, need immediate emergency assistance for essential items (like food, baby formula, or water), or need immediate housing assistance as a result of Tropical Storm Helene are urged to apply for FEMA assistance, as they may be eligible for federal and state disaster assistance. People can apply online at DisasterAssistance.gov. Applicants may also call the FEMA Helpline (1 800 621 3362). Tropical Storm Helene survivors are also encouraged to review Legal Aid of NC’s resource website at www.legalaidnc.org/disaster. 

Low-interest disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) are available for eligible applicants. SBA helps businesses of all sizes (including landlords), private nonprofit organizations, homeowners, and renters fund repairs or rebuilding efforts and cover the cost of replacing lost or damaged personal property. Disaster loans cover losses not fully compensated by insurance or other recoveries.

For more information, individuals may contact SBA’s Disaster Assistance Customer Service Center by calling 800-659-2955, emailing disastercustomerservice@sba.gov" data-linkto="mailto:">disastercustomerservice@sba.gov, or visiting SBA’s website at https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/disaster-assistance/hurricane-helene. Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals may call 800-877-8339.

For more information on North Carolina’s recovery, visit https://www.fema.gov/disaster/4827 and the North Carolina Department of Public Safety website at https://www.ncdps.gov/our-organization/emergency-management/hurricane-helene.