Increase In Foreclosures And Decrease In Income Compels

August 14th, 2009 | Tags: Foreclosure

foreclosure crisis

Increase in foreclosures matched by corresponding decrease in income due to the recession has compelled many to avoid lawyer’s fees and plead their own cases in courts. But the court proceedings and complexities has lead to many complications. Some of the litigants are not aware of their rights and without a lawyer there is no one to tell them.

A survey made two decades previously note that people with low income in Illinois got no assistance in 4 of 5 legal troubles. With the downturn and the flooding of the courts with foreclosure and similar cases the situation has become more pronounced and obvious than hitherto.

A free legal service is run by The Chicago Legal Clinic at its Daley Center. It is focusing on the foreclosure crisis. Since the last two years its number of clients has exploded. This has led many to wait for two hours to meet the attorney.
One of those in line is Anntoinette Brown in her mid forties. She has taken leave for the morning from her workplace to find out what is the meaning of one document that she urgently requires to know to prevent foreclosure of her house. It could either be a “verified answer to complaint to foreclose mortgage” or an “appearance and jury demand.” Which one was it? For a lawyer the answer would have been easy but not so for a lay person like Brown.
Other legal services are similarly overcrowded. Coordinated Advice and Referral Program for Legal Services are two other non-profit groups that steer people with low income through problems like eviction, wage trimmings etc. The director of Legal Services, Patricia Wrona said that many come to her after having failed to handle the legal complexities on their own. She said, “It is our view that to have an attorney review the situation for a client is a critical step. Part of the [self-representation] problem is people thinking, ‘I can get some forms from a clerk and fill them out’ — and that is often not the case.”

Many have no other option but to battle it alone. Some make use of technology to face up to the odds in the courtroom. Four years previously Illinois Legal Aid Online opened a website to instruct and educate those who were new to the system. Since then traffic to the site has increased at a steady pace. Today the count is 80,000 visits per month. Arrangements are being made so that one can chat with volunteer law students online.