The Poor Facing Foreclosures and the Like are Rushing to Legal Aid Centres

July 23rd, 2009 | Tags: Foreclosure

help-foreclosure

Battered by foreclosures, bankruptcy and other related legal problems from recession blues, the poor are rushing to legal aid centres. But the latter are now battling shortfalls in funding. The numbers of staff and services have been reduced causing those who are remaining to be overwhelmed with work.

Legal Services Corporation, a non-profit body, provides fund to over 900 legal aid centres across the country. Since 2007, the numbers of those qualifying for legal assistance have spiked by 11 million. Approximately currently 51 million are eligible for help – these being individuals or families whose earnings are less than 125% of the property level marked by the federal government. It now reads $27,564 per family comprising of 4 members.

This year the federal government has earmarked an increase of 11% in grants to legal aid but this has been offset by the increasing demand for the services and decrease in funds coming from the state governments, charitable donations and grants that make up half of the funds utilized by the legal services group. The net result will be that about 1 million bonafide cases will be turned away this year said the advocates. This means half of the applications they received will have to be refused.

Don Saunders of Civil Legal Services Division of National Legal Aid & Defender Association said, “The impact of the recession on the delivery system for civil legal aid has been dramatic with respect to those nonfederal funds.”
Unemployment has touched 10% in Cleveland. Here the Legal Aid Society has seen a jump by 56% in unemployment disputes and the refusal of insurance to workers who have been laid off. The agency has 55 lawyers working full time and 1,400 who are volunteers. They are expected to handle 900 of such types of cases this year and an overall number of 10,000 cases. They will be compelled to refuse 14,000 valid cases because of sheer inability to meet the demands.

Melanie Shakarian of the agency who is in charge of developments bemoaned, “It’s heartbreaking that we have to turn away so many clients. We have a considerable amount of resources to help low-income people, but even with all that we have, we can’t serve everyone who comes to us for help.”

It is not just the poor but the middle class too are now unable to meet legal expenses. The legal aid societies handle motley of disputes – divorce, custody of children, consumer matters, tenant-landlord conflicts, foreclosures for sale, government benefits and the like.