Services offered to fire victims

Legal advice available

CHICAGO — A toll-free legal hotline is now available for victims of the recent wildfires in Southern California. The line was created by the American Bar Association (ABA) Young Lawyers Division, in cooperation with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the State Bar of California and Foley & Lardner LLP.

Fire victims who are unable to afford a lawyer may call the hotline at (866) 636-9041 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. PST; messages may be left after this time. Callers should identify that they are seeking fire-related legal assistance.

The kind of legal help available includes:

• Assistance in securing FEMA and other governmental benefits available to disaster victims

• Assistance with insurance claims (life, medical, property and the like)

• Counseling on landlord/tenant problems

• Assisting in consumer protection matters, remedies and procedures

• Replacement of wills and other important legal documents destroyed in a major disaster

In addition to the hotline, the ABA and the State Bar of California have created comprehensive Web sites listing disaster resources: http://www.abanet.org/disaster and http://www.calbar.ca.gov.

‘How to rebuild’ workshop

ESCONDIDO — To help protect fire victims from scam artists who prey upon people in distress, SAN DIEGO REBUILDS! is presenting a free informational workshop, “How to rebuild and not get ripped-off,” for those whose homes or businesses need to be rebuilt either in total or in part.

The workshop will be hosted by legitimate and licensed construction organizations and contractors, material suppliers and attorneys, along with tax and lending professionals.

The event will take place November 16 from 2:30 to 7 p.m. at the California Center for the Arts, 340 N. Escondido Blvd.

For more information about SAN DIEGO REBUILDS!, visit http://www.SanDiegoRebuilds.com or e-mail Mike Caples at [email protected].