Okla. Stat. tit. 36, § 36-973

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 Roof™ (Roof), FORTIFIED Silver™ (Silver),

FORTIFIED Gold™ (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 in-

force policy providing wind insurance on the home; and

9. 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.

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 36. Insurance Page 225

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
rtificate 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.