A trio of bar groups yesterday announced the formation of the Bar Association Foreclosure Network of New York City, a cooperative pro bono effort by lawyers in three boroughs.
From the New York Law Journal (subscription required) :
The network will address a "citywide crisis" in mortgage foreclosures by providing a central resource for information and training in the cause of helping homeowners, according to Jeannie Costello, executive director of the Brooklyn Bar Association's Volunteer Lawyers Project. The New York City Association Justice Center and the Queens County Bar Association are the other participants. The network is an outgrowth of a city bar project in May in conjunction with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, in which some 125 lawyers were recruited to counsel New Yorkers facing loss of their homes due to the subprime mortgage crisis. - Thomas Adcock
Through our Foreclosure Prevention Projects, Legal Services NYC is at the forefront of the national fight against predatory lending practices in the subprime lending market. Predatory lending practices lead to foreclosure, homelessness, financial devastation and loss of hard-earned equity (which is the sole source of wealth for many lower income homeowners), displacement of long-time residents and destabilization of neighborhoods.
Legal Services NYC's work includes providing legal assistance, including advice, advocacy and litigation services, to homeowners; providing advice and assistance to community-based organizations on specific cases;and helping to coordinate and provide training for foreclosure prevention advocates throughout the City.
Foreclosure Assistance programs are offered at Legal Services NYC- Bronx, Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A, South Brooklyn Legal Services, and Staten Island Legal Services.