Large Number of People Who Face Foreclosures Don't Have a Lawyer

A new in-depth
study by the Brennan Center for Justice released today shows that
disturbing numbers of families face foreclosure proceedings without the
aid of legal counsel.

This is the
first national study of the dramatic overlap between the longstanding
shortage of lawyers for the poor and the economic collapse.

"To
a startling degree, our current foreclosure crisis is also a legal
crisis," said Michael Waldman, executive director of the Brennan Center
for Justice at NYU School of Law. "Many homeowners are losing their
homes merely because they lack the ability to navigate the legal
landscape of lending laws. This massive inequity is at the heart of the
economic downturn."

Among the report's findings:

1. In Connecticut, over 60 percent of defendants facing property foreclosure in 2007-08 did not have counsel;
2. In New York,
   84 percent of defendants in proceedings in Queens County involving
   foreclosures on "subprime," "high cost" or "non-traditional" mortgages
   (which are mortgages disproportionately targeted to low-income and
   minority homeowners) proceeded without full legal representation. In
   Richmond County (Staten Island), 91 percent of such defendants were
   unrepresented, and in Nassau County, 92 percent were unrepresented;
3. In hard-hit
   Stark County, Ohio, data suggests that 86 percent of defendants facing
   property foreclosure did not have counsel in 2008.

Many states and
counties don't even keep track of this information, but there is reason
to think that these numbers reflect conditions elsewhere throughout the
country.

This crisis has exacerbated an intolerable situation: even before the foreclosure crisis, 80% of the legal needs of America's poor went unmet. This longstanding gap has created inequities that have helped kindle the economic downturn.

"To fix the foreclosure crisis and prevent another one, we must close the justice gap in America," continued Waldman.

"Government
sources confirm that lenders targeted African Americans and other
minority group members for sub-prime loans," said report author and
Brennan Center attorney, Melanca Clark. "Not surprisingly, the legal
crisis hits communities of color particularly hard."

"Without a
lawyer," Clark continued, "a homeowner has virtually no ability to
raise legal defenses based on lender abuse, or even to identify those
abuses when they occur, given the complex nature of lending laws. And
yet millions of Americans in foreclosure are forced to face off against
lenders who have a full arsenal of legal tools at their disposal, with
no help at all."

The Brennan Center recommends:

1. Dedicating federal and state monies to pay for foreclosure legal assistance, particularly in areas hit hardest by the crisis;
2. Lifting the
   federal funding restrictions that impair representation of homeowners
   by lawyers in civil legal services programs that receive money from
   LSC;
3. Expanding alternate dispute resolution mechanisms for families facing foreclosure; and
4. Ensuring that
   families have an opportunity to consult with a trained housing
   counselor, and, if needed, a lawyer, in all foreclosure proceedings.

For more information or to schedule an interview with Melanca Clark, please contact Susan Lehman, 212 998 6318, susan.lehman@nyu.edujeanine.plant-chirlin@nyu.edu. or Jeanine Plant-Chirlin, 212 998 6289,