In the News

Real Estate Professionals Receive Allocation from BP Fund (MAR Media Release - August 2010)
Gulf real estate sales suffer from BP oil spill aftermath (article in USA Today)

Information about the allocation for real estate professionals from the Gulf Coast Claims Facility

• The claims administrator of the British Petroleum Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF) has announced a special allocation from the fund for licensed real estate professionals in the Gulf Coast region, including Mississippi.
• The state REALTOR® Associations in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas will receive emergency funds based on estimated losses in the coastal regions of their respective states, and have been cooperating in the development of a timely, transparent and objective process for receiving and processing claims and determining loss payments.
• The Gulf States REALTOR® Associations are individually contracting with a third party professional claims adjustment firm, Indiana-based National Catastrophe Adjusters, Inc., to handle all claims relating to this fund in an effort to ensure the timely, efficient and fair processing of all claims.
• The fund is intended to provide emergency payments to licensed real estate agents and brokers for losses relative to the spill, focusing first on known losses from the May, 2010 through July, 2010 time period.
• In Mississippi, real estate activity in Hancock, Harrison and Jackson counties will have priority eligibility under the prescribed protocol.
• No waiver will be required to receive these emergency payments.
• Details of how, when and where to file a claim will be announced via email in the next few days and at www.msrealtors.org/OilSpill.php (this page).
• Real estate licensees who believe they might have a claim should be gathering the documents needed to verify their Claim. Suggested items include 2009 tax returns, monthly income statements from 2009 and 2010 and 1099s. Documents related to cancelled contracts or leases should include cancelled transactional contracts and cancelled leases, verification of buyers’ cancellation due to the oil spill and other related authenticating evidence.

How to File a Claim

• Details of how, when and where to file a claim will be announced via email in the next few days and at www.msrealtors.org/OilSpill.php (this page).
• Real estate licensees who believe they might have a claim should be gathering the documents needed to verify their Claim. Suggested items include 2009 tax returns, monthly income statements from 2009 and 2010 and 1099s. Documents related to cancelled contracts or leasesshould include cancelled transactional contracts and cancelled leases, verification of buyers’ cancellation due to the oil spill and other related authenticating evidence.

Online Resources

Mississippi Department of Marine Resources oil spill response

MDEQ Oil spill map - Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality has a new page on their website that provides data and information that are being collected in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and will provide the public access to the most current information available. The map is updated regularly and can be accessed at http://opcgis.deq.state.ms.us/oilspillmap/. Locations where MDEQ and its partners have collected samples, as a result of different oil spill response activities, are displayed in the map application along with sampling results.

Current Air Quality along the Gulf Coast - MDEQ and the Environmental Protection Agency continue air monitoring, and to date all results are typical values for this time of year and below levels of concern. Air monitoring results can be viewed at http://gulfcoast.airnowtech.org/.

Mississippi Gulf Coast Convention & Visitors Bureau oil spill updates

Governour Barbour's oil spill resources for Gulf Coast residents page

EPA Response to BP Spill in the Gulf of Mexico - For information about validated environmental air and water sampling results, visit www.epa.gov/bpspill

US Fish & Wildlife Service repsonse to Spill - For daily updates about the Fish and Wildlife Service’s response and the status of national wildlife refuges, visit www.fws.gov/home/dhoilspill/.

Mapping the Response to BP Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico - By clicking on “View Interactive Map” you will be able to see the oil’s trajectory, fishery closures, the location of responders, and shipping information.

Volunteer

MS Commission for Volunteer Service - A request for volunteer support is now available for nonprofit organizations affected by the oil spill. Qualifying organizations will demonstrate how requested volunteers can assist in alleviating operational stresses a nonprofit organization is sustaining due to the oil spill. Volunteer support request forms are available at Volunteer Response Centers along the MS Gulf Coast. VRC contact and location information is available to the public at www.mcvs.org.

Individuals interested in volunteering can also register online at www.mcvs.org.

Volunteer Response Center Locations:

Hancock County Housing Resource Center
454 Hwy 90, Suite B Waveland, MS
Phone: 228-596-5546
Email: hancockvrc@gmail.com

Harrison County
Phone: 228-596-5780
Email: harrisonvrc@gmail.com

Jackson County
Phone: 228-382-7358
Email: jacksonvrc@gmail.com

Key numbers

• To report oiled shoreline, call (866) 448-5816.
  
• To submit your boat for the "Vessel of Opportunity" skimming system, or to submit alternative response technology, services, or products, call (281) 366-5511; (228) 523-4051; or (228) 523-4053.
  
• To report oiled wildlife, call (866) 557-1401. This hotline is staffed 24/7.
  
• To file a claim, or report spill-related damage, call BP’s helpline at (800) 440-0858. If you have already filed a claim and remain unsatisfied with BP’s decision, call the Coast Guard at (800) 280-7118.