A. To be eligible for a grant, residential property owners applying for a grant must be able to meet the eligibility requirements as set forth by the Insurance Department for each grant type. These requirements shall include, but not be limited to, the following:1. The residential property owner shall have or be constructing insurable property, as defined in Section 963 of Title 36 of the Oklahoma Statutes, that has been granted a homestead exemption, or, if new build, provides other documentation approved by the Insurance Commissioner;2. The residential property owner shall claim their primary residence in a county where grants are being approved;3. The home to be mitigated shall be an owner-occupied, single-family, primary residence and cannot be a condominium or mobile home;4. The home shall be in good repair unless damaged by a tornado or other catastrophic windstorm event or hail. SOH Program grant funds cannot be used for maintenance or repairs but may be used in conjunction with repairs or reconstruction necessitated by damages from a tornado or other catastrophic windstorm event or hail;5. A Certified IBHS Evaluator shall prequalify the insurable property as mitigable and identify all improvements required to achieve IBHS FORTIFIED RoofTM (Roof), FORTIFIED SilverTM (Silver), FORTIFIED GoldTM (Gold), or successor designation, or similar standard approved by the Insurance Commissioner. The residential property owner shall select the evaluator from a list provided by the SOH Program and shall pay the evaluator's fee;6. The residential property owner shall obtain bids from at least three IBHS Certified Contractors approved by the SOH Program;7. The residential property owner shall construct or retrofit the home to the Insurance IBHS Roof or Silver, Gold, or successor designation or similar standard approved by the Commissioner, which shall include the hail supplement;8. The residential property owner shall provide proof of an inforce policy providing wind insurance on the home; and9. If the insurable property is in a special flood hazard area, the residential property owner shall provide proof of an in-force flood insurance policy. The flood policy may be from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) or a private carrier.B. Grant applications shall be filed electronically with the Department in the form and manner prescribed by the Commissioner, along with any applicable transaction fees.C. Documents, materials, and other information submitted to the Department by property owners or insurance companies in support of a grant application shall be confidential by law and privileged, shall not be subject to open records requests, shall not be subject to subpoena, and shall not be subject to discovery or admissible in evidence in any private civil action.D. Grants to residential property owners shall be used to construct or retrofit an insurable property as defined in Section 963 of Title 36 of the Oklahoma Statutes to resist loss due to a tornado or other catastrophic windstorm event or hail as prescribed in subsection B of Section 962 of Title 36 of the Oklahoma Statutes.E. Retrofit projects within six (6) months of the date the residential property owner receives notice of the grant approval. New builds shall be completed within the timeframe approved by the Commissioner. Failure to complete the project timely may result in forfeiture of the grant.F. Grant funds shall only be paid once a certificate has been issued for the fortified standard approved by the Commissioner. Grant funds shall be paid by the Department or another designated agency, on behalf of the residential property owner, directly to the contractor who performed the mitigation work.G. Applications will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis within each income tier established by the Commissioner, with priority given to lower-income applicants, applicants who live in locations that, based on historical data, have a higher susceptibility to catastrophic weather events, and applicants meeting any other criteria the Commissioner determines is appropriate to meet the purpose of the program.H. Any entity providing funds to the SOH Program shall be permitted to establish additional rules and guidelines under which those funds may be used, as long as such rules and guidelines do not violate any state or federal law.I. The Department may conduct random inspections of funds, records, and/or properties to detect any fraud.Okla. Stat. tit. 36, § 973
Added by Laws 2024 , c. 293, s. 3, eff. 11/1/2024.