Shorthanded Legal Aid Offices Bursting At The Seams With Foreclosure Defense Cases

National Public Radio reports:

• Everyone accused of a crime is entitled to a lawyer, whether they can afford one or not. But in civil cases, such as home foreclosures, there is no right to an attorney. Legal aid attorneys say some people being kicked out of their homes might have been able to stay if they'd had legal help — help that isn't there for everyone.

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• Nationally, "half the people coming to the office at least are being turned away at the door," says Don Saunders, director of civil legal services at the National Legal Aid & Defender Association. That statistic does not count those who never make it to legal aid offices.

• "The other side has a lawyer," Saunders says. "The bank and the foreclosure process is being brought by a lawyer, and the playing field is clearly not a level one."

For more, see Foreclosures Overwhelm Legal Aid Programs.