Foreclosure Prevention Pro Bono Project - Saving Homeowners

July 21st, 2008

Foreclosure Prevention Pro Bono Project is on its way to help the homeowners to release their real estate properties from the grip of lenders. It’s a project, rather a resolution, taken by Maryland nonprofit groups. The pioneer of this project, Mr. Robert M. Bell, the chief judge of Maryland’s Court of Appeals, has taken the initiative personally to resist the lofty show of the real estate lenders. He has appealed to over 33,000 licensed attorneys of Maryland to stand beside these people in crisis of foreclosure. He requested the lawyers to participate in the project by donating money or lending their time.

This is the most alarming as well as controversial issue of the present time in the country. The condition is even worse in Ohio, where the Government is trying to sort this problem out. New laws have been introduced for giving the real estate owners several notices and allowing more time to react as reported by Mr. Bell earlier. Every year, the number of unsolved foreclosure cases is rising. However, the lawyers have started showing their interest and some of them already registered themselves for the training. Apart from them and many more, Baltimore’s nonprofit Maryland State Bar Association and Governor Martin O’Malley are active partners of the project.

In Maryland, over 70,000 homeowners, at least 70% more than that of last year, are the victims of foreclosure. It is time to save them from such unwanted harassment. This is a fact that most of them are not in a position to repay their debt, and rescue their mortgaged real estate property or home right now. They are already deeply engrossed with financial or personal problems of their own. Very few of them have the capacity to hire an advocate.

In this situation, the lawyers coming forward is really hopeful to the homeowners. Maryland housing counselors will also get some relief, as generally the borrowers come to them first to solve their real estate or foreclosure related problems. It seems that financially weak attorneys of small law firms have to compensate and give time, as most of the large firms serve for many of those mortgage-issuing financers.

However, it is true that all of those homeowners will not get their home back but this legal aid would help them to have time for transition and strength for living better and that is the main motto of the project.