Lifting Restrictions On Legal Aid Attorneys May Help Poor Homeowners Caught In Foreclosure Crisis

An Op-Ed article in The New York Times opines:

• Legal aid lawyers are among the few allies of poor homeowners caught in the subprime-mortgage meltdown. But these lawyers are hamstrung by federal regulations that limit homeowners’ access to speedy, low-cost legal relief.

Among the restrictions is an inability by legal aid lawyers, unlike their colleagues in private practice, to collect attorneys fees from companies who violate their clients' rights when those rights are vindicated in court:

• One restriction prohibits legal aid lawyers, unlike their corporate counterparts, from collecting attorney fees on behalf of vindicated clients. Fee awards are an incentive for both parties to negotiate quickly because legal costs increase as litigation drags on. Recalcitrant lenders can stall as long as they like, knowing it will cost them nothing.

For more on how federal rules are arguably impeding the work of legal aid lawyers, see Unleash Legal Aid.