Troubled homeowners can stop foreclosed houses with free help from new law graduates of the University of Miami who have passed the bar exam in Florida under the Foreclosure Defense Fellowship and the Foreclosure Project which were launched by advocates at the university to provide free legal representation to troubled homeowners.
According to law professor Michael Fromkin, head of the fellowship, he pursued the creation of the fellowship after he came to know of thousands of filings of foreclosures at courthouses in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.
In a recent foreclosure report, courts in Miami, Pompano Beach and Fort Lauderdale received nearly 54,000 foreclosure cases, representing 2.23 percent of all residential units in the metro area. The pace of foreclosures slightly slowed down compared to the previous quarter, but the foreclosures are still high compared to 2008.
Homeowners who cannot pay their home loans are also not able to hire attorneys to help them save their houses, according to Fromkin. He added that there are legal options under which homeowners can delay foreclosures or prevent foreclosures, but many homeowners do not know these options. He explained that the fellowship will enable them to obtain legal representation for free and take advantage of these viable options.
Among these new law graduates participating in the program to stop foreclosed houses is Barbeth Foster. Foster is one of six new lawyers working at the offices of the Legal Aid Service of Broward County and the Legal Services of Greater Miami providing court representation for homeowners whose homes are in foreclosure. They are also helping borrowers negotiate loan modification or short sale agreements with lenders.
The Foreclosure Project, meanwhile, is carried out by law graduates who are taking their master’s degrees and who are providing help to homeowners under the supervision of local lawyers.
Richard Burton, the Aventura real property lawyer who launched the project, is working with a group of local lawyers to supervise the new law graduates.
According to the advocates, the two programs help both parties – the homeowners and the lawyers themselves. The new lawyers gain useful work experience while helping homeowners save their houses or sell their houses in a short sale to prevent foreclosure.
Additionally, the lawyers who complete the 6-month fellowship are awarded $10,000 each. Foster, one of the participants, said that the fellowship program is a unique opportunity for him to develop his career and at the same time help stop foreclosed houses.