Disaster and Emergency Insights

Analysis and practical guides on disaster and emergency.

4 articles, checklists, and guides on disaster and emergency law, written by the attorneys at MC Law. Every piece is general information, not legal advice — for a specific matter, contact the firm.

Disaster and EmergencyDisaster Assistance

Disaster Recovery Toolkit: Documentation, Appeals, and Recoupment Defense

Working templates for a disaster recovery. It includes the damage documentation log and receipt tracker to start on day one, a personal property inventory format built from sources that survive when receipts do not, and the self-declarative statements that resolve occupancy and ownership denials — including the heirs' property statement for families holding a home with no deed. It provides inspection notes and a reinspection request, an appeal letter that answers the stated reason, an insurance denial submission, and the continued rental assistance request with the permanent housing plan that most applicants never write. It closes with contractor verification, a recoupment waiver request, a congressional inquiry, and a document replacement tracker.

Casey Scott McKayMarch 5, 202625 min read

Disaster and EmergencyDisaster Assistance

Disaster Assistance Checklist

A working checklist for a disaster recovery, sequenced from the first hours to the repayment notice that may arrive years later. It opens with the photography and receipt discipline that has to happen before cleanup, then covers same-day registration and insurance filing, inspection preparation, and the occupancy and ownership documents that resolve the most common denials. It includes the appeal components, the full list of parallel programs most households never apply for, contractor verification, and the continued rental assistance request that requires rent receipts nobody keeps. It closes with the recoupment response and the three afternoons of preparation that change the next recovery.

Casey Scott McKayMarch 5, 202612 min read

Disaster and EmergencyDisaster Assistance

Disaster Assistance and FEMA Appeals: Applications, Denials, and Recoupment

Federal disaster assistance is not insurance and it is not a rebuild fund, and the gap between what people expect and what the program does causes most of the anger in the system. This article explains what individual assistance actually covers, why the most common denials are documentation problems rather than eligibility problems, and how to fix each one. It walks through occupancy and ownership verification for people whose records burned or who inherited a home without a deed, the duplication of benefits rule that governs the interaction with insurance, and the appeal that resolves a large share of denials for people who write one. It closes with recoupment — the notice years later demanding money back — and the waiver process most recipients never learn exists.

Casey Scott McKayMarch 5, 202628 min read

Disaster and EmergencyDisaster Assistance

Applying for Disaster Assistance and Appealing a Denial: A Practical Guide

This guide walks through a disaster recovery from the first seventy-two hours to the recoupment notice that may arrive years later. It starts with the documentation that has to happen before cleanup, because photographs taken before the debris goes to the curb determine what can be proved afterward. It covers registering and filing the insurance claim simultaneously, preparing for the inspection, and assembling occupancy and ownership proof — including for renters paying cash and for families holding heirs' property with no deed. It then covers the appeal letter that reverses a large share of denials, continued rental assistance that most households never request, contractor fraud, and how to respond to a demand for repayment.

Casey Scott McKayMarch 5, 202628 min read