ABLE, together with its law firm partner LAWO and other community collaborations, work on Foreclosure and Predatory Lending issues in order to keep poor and low-income working families in their homes. ABLE staff and advocates provide free legal help to homeowners to stop the foreclosure action and to preserve the dream of home ownership for as many families as possible. Affirmative legal representation, brief services, counsel, and advice are some of the ways ABLE assists clients who are in foreclosure crisis.

In addition, the program works with low-income homeowners who are victims of predatory mortgage lending. While predatory lending covers a wide variety of abusive lending practices on any type of loan, ABLE concentrates on predatory lending that targets homeowners and increases the risk of foreclosure or the loss of equity in a client's home. ABLE advocates also promote the development of laws seeking an end to predatory lending.

Legal Aid helped Sharon*
fight a foreclosure.

Sharon and her husband both lost their jobs at about the same time. With four kids to feed and clothe, the couple attempted to juggle their expenses, resulting in several missed loan payments on their home. They received notice that a foreclosure suit was being filed against their home. Uncertain as to what to do, and not wanting to lose their home, Sharon contacted Legal Aid for help. Because there were no legal defenses to their foreclosure, their attorney began to work on a loan modification settlement. Their original loan had a variable interest rate that for 2009 was 11.25 percent. The attorney determined that a loan modification agreement would capitalize on their missed payments so they could pay off their loan on a longer period of time then a Repayment Plan would have allowed.

After much negotiation, a loan modification agreement was reached just weeks before their foreclosure trial was scheduled to take place. The loan modification lowered payments to an amount that they could afford and fixed the interest rate at 5.75 percent, allowing for a manageable monthly principal and interest payment. The case was dismissed with no costs to Sharon and her husband — and the family remains in their home.

(*not her real name)