Retired Maine Attorney Scores $100K Award In Recognition Of Foreclosure Defense Volunteer Work

In Portland, Maine, the Morning Sentinel reports:

• In April 2008, Thomas Cox joined the Maine Volunteer Lawyers Project to fight against unfair foreclosure practices.
  
  His reward for his services? $100,000.
  
  Cox, the retired attorney who uncovered the practice of "robo-signing" and other illegal practices in the mortgage industry, was one of five people honored Wednesday with the 2012 Purpose Prize, which recognizes people older than 60 who work toward the public good and rewards them with $100,000.
  
  It's a stunning turnaround for a man who once was a lawyer for Maine banks, helping with debt collection and foreclosures.
  
  "I feel more alive and vital than I think I've ever felt," Cox, 68, said Wednesday. "I couldn't feel more satisfied with my work right now."

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• [I]n the past four years, he's uncovered scores of cases in which mortgage lenders wrongly kept customers delinquent and foreclosed on homes using improper accounting, illegal fees and an "egregiously inflated" forced-place insurance. "Some of the practices that were being used were truly incredible," he said.

For more, see Portland lawyer, who works for free, rewarded with $100K prize (Thomas Cox helped "blow the lid" off foreclosure fraud by some of the country's biggest banks, saving tens of thousands of homes).