Finding Attorneys To Replace Dumped Foreclosure Mills A Chaos-Creating Struggle

The Wall Street Journal reports:

• Moves by banks to ditch law firms snared in the "robo-signing" mess are spreading delays and confusion to borrowers, while angering judges grappling with thousands of foreclosure cases now trapped in limbo.
• The trouble began when U.S. banks and government-owned mortgage giants lost confidence in some law firms that handled a huge volume of foreclosures. After controversy erupted last fall over the shoddy review of loan documents known as robo-signing, banks dropped some law firms.
• Finding replacement lawyers who can pick up the slack quickly has been a struggle. While the resulting slowdown means that fewer houses are being seized, late fees are piling up for homeowners seeking a loan modifications. Investors who own bonds backed by those mortgages could face higher costs from the snags.
• "It's causing chaos because nobody knows who's representing whom," says Thomas Ice, a foreclosure defense lawyer in Royal Palm Beach, Fla.

For more, see Foreclosures Trapped by a Lack of Lawyers.