Free Legal Help in Ocean County on FEMA Recoupment Notices

Sandy victims in Ocean County have an opportunity to get free help on how to respond to FEMA Recoupment notices at a clinic Saturday in Berkeley Township, 10 a.m. to Noon.

Congressman-elect Tom MacArthur organized the clinic to be held at the Berkeley Recreation Building with the help of Township Mayor Carmen Amato. Representatives from Legal Services of New Jersey and the Ocean County Long Term Recovery Group will be on hand to provide their expertise.

"I think it's an important group of people gathered in one place to try to help residents that thought they were finally putting their lives back together again only to find that FEMA is trying to claw back monies that they say were paid in error," said MacArthur. "There seems to be a basic unfairness about it to me."

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MacArthur is encouraging anyone who received a Recoupment notice to attend the free clinic to avoid being penalized. FEMA has threatened to garnish wages from those who do not repay the money.

"It's one thing if somebody has tired to gain the system. I think there's nobody that would feel any different." MacArthur added, "Those people need to be held accountable, but the vast majority of people made claims that they felt were legitimate. FEMA paid them, and now months or even years later, after people may have discarded documents and the monies have been spent putting their lives back together again to have FEMA deliver another blow concerns me."

MacArthur said he wants to explore what the issue are and here what Legal Services of New Jersey has to say about the situation and what people's rights are before deciding the next step to take.