Also, lastly, I hear today from the lawyers at JALA, the Jacksonville Legal Aid office whose excellent work I profiled in the piece, that their offices are going to be losing three attorneys in January due to a budgetary shortfall. This organization needs donations to survive (as do legal aid offices all around the country), and here’s why this matters; most of the people who are being foreclosed upon actually have ways to fight back if they can get legal representation. The problem is that offices like JALA have a finite number of attorneys, and so are forced to turn back people who come knocking asking for legal help. Each additional attorney, then, can keep dozens of people in their homes. I strongly suggest that anyone who has extra funds give if they can to local legal aid offices in their states, or even JALA in particular (their donation info can be found at www.jaxlegalaid.org), because this right now is crunch time and a little money can go a long way to helping stop the foreclosure bleeding. I myself am making a donation today.
Diane Thompson of the National Consumer Law Center, who was a rock star at yesterday’s hearing, made a point that has gone overlooked. She said that you can get much better compliance on loan modifications if you actually fund mediation programs and legal services attorneys. There are mandatory mediation programs up and running in Philadelphia and New York, and they have been far more successful in preventing foreclosures – by about 50%, according to Thompson. It’s just a matter of getting the servicers into these mediation programs instead of hoping they will initiate modifications on their own.
As for legal services, as I said a couple days ago, Dodd-Frank authorized $35 million dollars for legal services for homeowners facing foreclosure, but never appropriated the money. Thompson said, “All of the robo-signing allegations were only discovered, brought to light by aggressive, competent attorneys working very diligently to represent their clients. Homeowners cannot negotiate these kinds of issues without lawyers. Low-income homeowners particularly need the lawyers… we urgently need that funding.”
I’ve been taking a look at this issue over the past couple days, contacting people on the Hill, and it doesn’t look good. The funding does not exist in the Treasury/HUD appropriations bill, one of the routine spending bills that need to be passed. It’s not entirely likely they’ll get passed at all, let alone that the report will get reopened to insert that funding in there.
Some Senators are looking for other ways to get the funding through. Some want to allow TARP funds to get used for legal assistance. Others, like Sherrod Brown, have been asking for expansions of legal aid since June. He wants the Treasury Department to allow the Housing Finance Agency’s Hardest-Hit Fund (HHF) to be used in counseling and legal aid services for foreclosure victims.
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News and Notes. November 27th, 2010 | by: Duvel | Comments (0). Ganso Return Julio Cesar appears to be out until January with a torn thigh muscle. The Inter Milan keeper has not played for his club since an October 29th start against ...
Game of the Week PlayStation 3 <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net
Read our PlayStation 3 news of Game of the Week. ... Gran Turismo 4 vs. Gran Turismo 5 Today 10:56. Gran Turismo 5: Special Stage 720p/1080/3D analysis Today 10:56. Latest News. GT5 update confirmed for Saturday ...
bench craft company per hole sizingAlso, lastly, I hear today from the lawyers at JALA, the Jacksonville Legal Aid office whose excellent work I profiled in the piece, that their offices are going to be losing three attorneys in January due to a budgetary shortfall. This organization needs donations to survive (as do legal aid offices all around the country), and here’s why this matters; most of the people who are being foreclosed upon actually have ways to fight back if they can get legal representation. The problem is that offices like JALA have a finite number of attorneys, and so are forced to turn back people who come knocking asking for legal help. Each additional attorney, then, can keep dozens of people in their homes. I strongly suggest that anyone who has extra funds give if they can to local legal aid offices in their states, or even JALA in particular (their donation info can be found at www.jaxlegalaid.org), because this right now is crunch time and a little money can go a long way to helping stop the foreclosure bleeding. I myself am making a donation today.
Diane Thompson of the National Consumer Law Center, who was a rock star at yesterday’s hearing, made a point that has gone overlooked. She said that you can get much better compliance on loan modifications if you actually fund mediation programs and legal services attorneys. There are mandatory mediation programs up and running in Philadelphia and New York, and they have been far more successful in preventing foreclosures – by about 50%, according to Thompson. It’s just a matter of getting the servicers into these mediation programs instead of hoping they will initiate modifications on their own.
As for legal services, as I said a couple days ago, Dodd-Frank authorized $35 million dollars for legal services for homeowners facing foreclosure, but never appropriated the money. Thompson said, “All of the robo-signing allegations were only discovered, brought to light by aggressive, competent attorneys working very diligently to represent their clients. Homeowners cannot negotiate these kinds of issues without lawyers. Low-income homeowners particularly need the lawyers… we urgently need that funding.”
I’ve been taking a look at this issue over the past couple days, contacting people on the Hill, and it doesn’t look good. The funding does not exist in the Treasury/HUD appropriations bill, one of the routine spending bills that need to be passed. It’s not entirely likely they’ll get passed at all, let alone that the report will get reopened to insert that funding in there.
Some Senators are looking for other ways to get the funding through. Some want to allow TARP funds to get used for legal assistance. Others, like Sherrod Brown, have been asking for expansions of legal aid since June. He wants the Treasury Department to allow the Housing Finance Agency’s Hardest-Hit Fund (HHF) to be used in counseling and legal aid services for foreclosure victims.
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The new BFFs show off their curves while celebrating Thanksgiving abroad.
<b>News</b> and Notes - Brazil
News and Notes. November 27th, 2010 | by: Duvel | Comments (0). Ganso Return Julio Cesar appears to be out until January with a torn thigh muscle. The Inter Milan keeper has not played for his club since an October 29th start against ...
Game of the Week PlayStation 3 <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net
Read our PlayStation 3 news of Game of the Week. ... Gran Turismo 4 vs. Gran Turismo 5 Today 10:56. Gran Turismo 5: Special Stage 720p/1080/3D analysis Today 10:56. Latest News. GT5 update confirmed for Saturday ...
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The new BFFs show off their curves while celebrating Thanksgiving abroad.
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News and Notes. November 27th, 2010 | by: Duvel | Comments (0). Ganso Return Julio Cesar appears to be out until January with a torn thigh muscle. The Inter Milan keeper has not played for his club since an October 29th start against ...
Game of the Week PlayStation 3 <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net
Read our PlayStation 3 news of Game of the Week. ... Gran Turismo 4 vs. Gran Turismo 5 Today 10:56. Gran Turismo 5: Special Stage 720p/1080/3D analysis Today 10:56. Latest News. GT5 update confirmed for Saturday ...
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News and Notes. November 27th, 2010 | by: Duvel | Comments (0). Ganso Return Julio Cesar appears to be out until January with a torn thigh muscle. The Inter Milan keeper has not played for his club since an October 29th start against ...
Game of the Week PlayStation 3 <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net
Read our PlayStation 3 news of Game of the Week. ... Gran Turismo 4 vs. Gran Turismo 5 Today 10:56. Gran Turismo 5: Special Stage 720p/1080/3D analysis Today 10:56. Latest News. GT5 update confirmed for Saturday ...
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