Boston Legal Aid Firm Wins $54K Jury Verdict For Tenant Illegally Booted In Foreclosure Eviction; Now Seek Triple Damages, Attorney Fee From Servicer

In Boston, Massachusetts, The Boston Globe reports on William Allen, a local man who, with the help of local law students at Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, fought back against a mortgage loan servicing company in a case involving an illegal foreclosure eviction.

• In January, after the Bank of New York, which owns the property, sent an eviction notice, Allen fought back. He filed a counterclaim, arguing that by changing the locks the bank tried to paint him as a squatter and that it intentionally did not turn on the water and heat, because it wanted him to leave.(1) Last month, after a three-day trial in Boston Housing Court, a jury awarded Allen $54,000 for his ordeal.(2)

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• Lawyers at the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, which represented Allen, say that it's a rare victory for a tenant in a post-foreclosure case and that the verdict has caught the interest of legal services groups nationwide.

• "The impact of this case is that the banks now know that if they engage in extrajudicial practices to gain possession of a foreclosed property it can cost them dearly," said Verner Moore, a lawyer and clinical instructor at the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau.

For more, see Vindication after eviction ordeal (Jury backs tenant in foreclosure dispute).

Go here for more on the law students at the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau urging tenants in foreclosed homes to fight back against careless/reckless mortgage companies seeking illegal evictions.

(1) The story states that, after experiencing a loss of heat and water to the premises, Allen turned to WilmerHale Legal Services Center in Jamaica Plain - one of two legal services programs run by Harvard. A law student reportedly fired off a letter to the Bank of New York, saying that Allen lived there and urging the bank to get the heat and water turned back on. Allen alleges that the bank instead changed the locks and sent police after him.

(2) Reportedly, the case is not over. A hearing is a set for Jan. 30, when Allen's lawyers will ask a judge to double or triple the award because, they contend, the bank willfully and knowingly failed to act responsibly as a landlord. They will also seek attorneys' fees.