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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Closing the Door on Foreclosure for 10,000 Maryland Families

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Monday, January 14, 2013   

BALTIMORE - More than $7 million will help about 10,000 Marylanders keep their homes. The funds come from the National Mortgage Settlement, money to settle charges of illegal activities by five of the largest mortgage servicers. About half of the state's check, $3.6 million, goes to Maryland Legal Aid in Baltimore.

Vicki King-Taitano is in charge of the Foreclosure Legal Assistance Project at Legal Aid, and she says the money will allow them to accept more clients facing foreclosure.

"They'll get representation at mediation and an evaluation to see if we would represent them further, like to try to get the case dismissed, or file a bankruptcy for them."

Forty-nine states are sharing in the national settlement of $26 billion dollars (Oklahoma declined), which was negotiated by state attorneys general. Money also went directly to states to fund consumer-protection projects.

King-Taitano says there are many reasons families face mortgage troubles, ranging from loss of a job to predatory lending. But many of the problems are connected to the housing boom when so many people purchased homes at inflated prices, a time when she says banks were shoveling money out the door as quickly as possible, without following the law.

"So, we've got people stuck with huge loans in houses that aren't worth what the loan is, or an adjustable rate mortgage that's gone up, and so we're trying as best we can to get those loans modified."

She adds that averting foreclosure benefits neighborhood property values. Five other legal aid programs will share in the settlement. Legal Aid assistance is available based on income levels, and offices specialize in helping low-income families.

Civil Justice, St. Ambrose Housing Aid Center, Pro Bono Resource Center, the Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service and Public Justice Center shared in the settlement. The mortgage servicers in the settlement: Ally/GMAC, Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo.




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