HARLINGEN – A Harlingen family claims they were nearly fined for cleaning up after last week’s storm.

Code enforcement officers were walking through Harlingen neighborhoods with FEMA Wednesday, assessing the damage.   

The Garcia family was then given a legal notice to stop work on their flood damaged home.

Rudy Garcia says he's glad he was there for his parents when the city issued this legal notice to stop construction.

They were following flood recovery instructions: ripping out floor boards and insulation on their flood ravaged home.

"I was in awe of it. I was like 'what?'… My parents, they're elderly," says Rudy Garcia.

The City of Harlingen told us, they didn't make the family get a permit; they just wanted to know the Garcia's plans.

Cosmetic repairs and ripping out sheet rock is fine, but touching beams is not, since it could alter the structural integrity of the home according to the city.

Garcia says code enforcement could have talked to his family about their flood recovery plans and avoided the situation.

For more information watch the video above.