Maryland Statewide Foreclosure Prevention Pro Bono Initiative Begins This Week

The Baltimore Sun reports:

• As foreclosure cases continue to mount unabated, Maryland nonprofit groups, elected officials and the courts are joining forces to urge attorneys to help residents in danger of losing their homes. Called the Foreclosure Prevention Pro Bono Project, the effort will train lawyers to take on cases, advise homeowners or assist housing counseling agencies. Training sessions begin this Thursday in Baltimore and are scheduled throughout the state over the summer.

• Robert M. Bell, chief judge of Maryland's Court of Appeals, sent letters dated yesterday to every licensed attorney in Maryland - more than 33,000 in all - asking them to volunteer their time or donate money. "This is one of the most important pro bono initiatives of our time," he wrote.

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• [Baltimore nonprofit legal services network] Civil Justice says it [...] intends to show attorneys that there are opportunities to make money through court-awarded fees. "While they're helping and doing good, they may be able to do well," said Civil Justice's [Phillip] Robinson, who won attorney fees last week for a foreclosure case in Montgomery County Circuit Court as well as damages for the homeowner.

For more, see A cry to help save homes in Maryland (Top judge seeks to stop foreclosures).

Go here for registration and for schedule of attorney training sessions.

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