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Foreclosure Victim, Attorneys Speak Out for Legal Aid
BOSTON (February 28, 2008) – Nearly 600 private attorneys gathered at the State House to hear former legal aid client Janice Gray describe how her home was saved from foreclosure by a legal aid program and to lobby for increased state funding for legal aid programs. As skyrocketing foreclosures force Massachusetts residents out of their homes, many low income people like Gray turn to legal aid to protect their rights.
Mrs. Gray and her husband paid a substantial down payment on a home that their mortgage broker said would have a fixed 9 percent interest rate but actually had an adjustable rate of 11 percent. They were assured they could refinance their loan in six months and reluctantly signed as they had left their old apartment and were living in a hotel. Several months later they were unable to keep up with their payments and their rate increased to 14 percent.
With nowhere else to go, the Grays turned to Neighborhood Legal Services in Lawrence where an attorney reviewed their mortgage and found 15 consumer rights violations. “I was stunned when she told us the mortgage broker had inflated our household income by four times so that we could qualify for the loan,” said Mrs. Gray.
Chair of the Equal Justice Coalition Stephen Oleskey said, “The fact that poor people can face foreclosure on their home or the loss of custody of their children without representation is unacceptable. Yet it happens in Massachusetts every day, because funding for legal aid is not adequate.” Massachusetts Bar Association president David White and Boston Bar Association president-elect Kathy Weinman also addressed the crowd, calling for an end to the persistent shortage of legal aid. “Let’s make this happen today,” said White.
After the speaking program, attorneys visited their legislators to ask for an increase of $5 million for the Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation in the coming state budget.
The co-sponsors of this year’s Walk to the Hill included: Asian-American Lawyers Association of Massachusetts; Bar Association of Norfolk County; Bristol County Bar Association; Essex County Bar Association; Franklin County Bar Association; Greater Lowell Bar Association; Greater Lynn Bar Association; Hampden County Bar Association; Hampshire County Bar Association; Hellenic Bar Association; Lawrence Bar Association; Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys; Massachusetts Association of Hispanic Attorneys; Massachusetts Association of Women Lawyers; Massachusetts Black Lawyers Association; Massachusetts Black Women Attorneys; Massachusetts Lesbian and Gay Bar Association; Massachusetts Trial Lawyers Association; Middlesex County Bar Association; National Lawyers Guild, Massachusetts Chapter; Plymouth County Bar Association; Real Estate Bar Association for Massachusetts; Women’s Bar Association; Worcester County Bar Association.
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