Storm contractor rules in Oklahoma: the Emergency Price Stabilization Act and the Home Repair Fraud Act

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. The wider picture is on the storm contractor rules page. Four rows are statute text from the Oklahoma State Courts Network, which publishes the Oklahoma Statutes. The last row is a consumer page from the Construction Industries Board. No source read names tree work.

The sources in one table

Source	What it says
15 O.S. 777.4(A)	For the length of a declaration of emergency by the Governor or the President, and for 30 days after, no person may sell, rent or lease goods, services, dwelling units or storage space in the emergency area at a price more than 10 percent above the price the person charged for the same or similar things just before the declaration
15 O.S. 777.4(A) exceptions	The increase is allowed if attributable to price rises in petroleum and natural gas commodity markets, or only to factors unrelated to the emergency that do not include any increase in profit to the seller or owner
15 O.S. 777.4(B)	For 180 days after the first period, the same 10 percent limit applies to renting dwelling units or storage space and to selling goods for use in the emergency area to repair, restore, remodel or construct a dwelling unit. The text in this subsection names goods, not services
15 O.S. 777.3 and 777.5	An action to enforce the act may be filed within one year after the declaration of emergency and any extensions end. A violation of the act is a violation of the Oklahoma Consumer Protection Act
15 O.S. 765.2 and 765.3	Home repair fraud covers misrepresenting a material fact, using deception to win a home repair deal, requiring a price that unreasonably exceeds the value of services and materials, damaging property to get a job, and posing as a government or utility employee. It is a Class D1 felony. The definition of home repair excludes landscaping
Construction Industries Board tips	Suggests care with door-to-door offers after a storm, at least three estimates, checking that a roofing contractor is registered or a plumbing, mechanical or electrical contractor is licensed, a written contract, and asking to see a building permit where one is needed

Price rule

The main limit is a flat percentage: 10 percent above the seller's own price from just before the declaration. Section 777.4(A) names services as well as goods. The period runs as long as the declaration and 30 days beyond it, so the window is set by the declaration and its extensions. The exceptions are narrow, and the test is the seller's own earlier price, not a market average. Subsections C to F of the same section add that a price increase approved by a government agency is not a violation, and that growers and processors of food, catalog sales and advertised prices with a published end date fall outside the section.

Home repair fraud

The Home Repair Fraud Act defines home repair as fixing, replacing, altering, improving or adding to real property used as a residence, with a list of examples that includes roofs, fences, driveways and "other improvements to residential structures or upon the land adjacent thereto". The list does not name trees. The definition leaves out landscaping and the sale or repair of carpets. Section 765.3 turns on knowledge or reason to know, so it describes deliberate conduct and not a bad result alone.

Licensing

The Construction Industries Board page names roofing registration and plumbing, mechanical and electrical licences. It does not name tree work or general contracting. For how other states treat tree work, see contractor licences for tree work. The warnings that attorneys general issue after storms are on the storm tree scams page.