Baltimore Judge Orders Flat Fees For Attorneys Clipping Homeowners For Fat Fees In Tax Sale Foreclosures

In Baltimore, Maryland, The Baltimore Sun reported earlier this month:

• A Baltimore circuit judge ruled [earlier this month] that attorneys handling tax-sale foreclosure cases in the city can charge only flat fees instead of billing by the hour, a move aimed at reducing the amount of money homeowners have to pay to keep their homes. The ruling by Evelyn Omega Cannon, the judge in charge of the Baltimore Circuit Court civil docket, capped a yearlong review that she began after realizing that many requests for fees and expense reimbursement in tax-sale cases were not documented.

• Her ruling comes as federal authorities look into possible mail fraud and restraint-of-trade violations in tax-sale auctions in the city and a number of counties around Maryland, and at a time when foreclosure rates in Maryland are rising rapidly. [...] In her 51-page opinion, Cannon set the fees at $1,300 or $1,500, depending on how far along the case has gotten ...

For more, see Judge limits lawyers' fees in tax-sale cases (when link expires, go here for story courtesy of LexisNexis). bidding