The State Bar of California’s Response to the Mortgage Foreclosure Crisis

August 22, 2008

In response to the mortgage foreclosure crisis in California, the State Bar of California has been mobilizing efforts with various organizations to establish a central repository for public resources and attorney volunteer opportunities. With the support of a grant from the California Bar Foundation, the Public Interest Clearinghouse is in the process of finalizing their foreclosure resource website for members of the public and for attorneys with assistance from State Bar staff. The new website is ForeclosureInfoCA.org.

This site will list all agencies and organizations providing mortgage foreclosure assistance to consumers. The site will also link with www.probono.net/ca and will list the legal services programs, HUD counseling agencies, local bars and LRS’s interested in using volunteer attorneys to address mortgage foreclosure issues on behalf of home owners and renters. We expect the official release of this website to be no later than the end of September 2008.

If you are a legal services program, local bar association or lawyer referral service that would like to be listed as an organization accepting potential volunteer attorneys to work on foreclosure-related issues within your organization or local task force, and have not done so already, please provide your contact information and a description of the type of services needed to the contacts below:

• Legal Services Organizations: Kate O’Connor, Kate.Oconnor@calbar.ca.gov
• Bar Associations/local task forces: Leanna Dickstein, Leanna.Dickstein@calbar.ca.gov
• Lawyer Referral Services: Rodney Low, Rodney.Low@calbar.ca.gov

The website will offer resources for home owners facing issues along the full spectrum of foreclosure-related matters, including those individuals who are first time buyers, who are precariously close to going into foreclosure or who are facing foreclosure. The site will also provide information and resources for renters who are facing evictions from foreclosed properties.

We recognize that attorneys are in a unique position with their knowledge and skills to offer very specific volunteer services. The Bar has been working with HUD counseling centers and contacts through the California Reinvestment Coalition, NeighborWorks America, and Housing and Economic Rights Advocates to identify those agencies in the hardest hit counties ready to accept volunteer attorneys to help with discrete tasks such as loan renegotiations on behalf of borrowers, contract review and identification of predatory lending, etc.

The State Bar is fortunate to be working very closely with Practising Law Institute (PLI), an approved MCLE provider, which is developing training modules to educate attorneys on California law and loan modifications, recourse for renters who are facing eviction from a property in foreclosure, and other issues pertaining to this crisis. PLI is developing the programming with the assistance of Tara Twomey, Of Counsel at National Consumer Law Center and Maeve Elise Brown, Executive Director, Housing and Economic Rights Advocates (HERA).

The live training sessions will be free of charge and open to all volunteer attorneys, legal services advocates and HUD Counselors. Simultaneous webcasts will also be set up. All training modules will be available continuously on-line and free of charge to anyone interested in volunteering. We anticipate that the training will occur in early November 2008. Once the training dates have been confirmed, you will be notified. The information will also be posted on the volunteer attorney site.

If you are interested in viewing the training outline, please let us know by sending an email to bar.relations@calbar.ca.gov and we will coordinate with you.

Questions regarding remote sites for simultaneous webcasts can be coordinated through Rodney Low at Rodney.low@calbar.ca.gov or 415-538-2219.

Members of the public will be notified of this web resource through an informational postcard, which will be distributed throughout the state, announcements on LawHelpCalifornia, the State Bar’s web site, and hopefully, through the various channels provided through your organizations.

State Bar President, Jeffrey Bleich will reach out to the State Bar’s membership emphasizing the importance of their help and directing them to ForeclosureInfoCA.org for volunteer opportunities.

As you can see, the State Bar is partnering with many other agencies and organizations to help in this time of crisis.

If you have any suggestions on the type of training needed, channels for distributing information to both the public and the attorneys or wish to discuss any aspect of this project, please contact:

Patricia Lee, Director, Office of Legal Services Access & Fairness Programs
Patricia.lee@calbar.ca.gov or 415-538-2240
or
Carol Madeja, Director, Bar Relations Outreach
Carol.madeja@calbar.ca.gov or 213-765-1329