How do I Practice Foreclosure Law for Small Law Firms?
The foreclosure bar is sharply segmented, with some lawyers working regularly for the banks and finance companies pursuing foreclosure actions, and other lawyers working the defense side of the same litigation, representing distressed home owners.
The plaintiffs' side in this litigation is generally taken by the larger firms. But there is a real market for smaller law firms willing to take up the cause of the defendants.
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Instructions
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Marketing, Time and Refinancing
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Learn the rules of your state's bar as they govern how an attorney may market his services. The American Bar Association has a set of Model Rules, but each state bar goes its own way in some aspects.
The rules will require that you use caution in describing the particular field in which you and your firm practice. Almost certainly you should not run an ad that says you "specialize" in foreclosure defense. You may, though, list it as an area in which you practice.
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Assure homeowners, when they do come into your offices, or visit your website, that they have an ally who knows the ropes -- you.
Foreclosure is a process governed by a lot of technically complex rules. As a result, there are often defenses available that will give a homeowner a decent bargaining position -- defense of which a lay person may not be aware. Judge Mark C. Dillon, writing in an article for the Pace Law Review in 2010, listed some of them. Dillon said legal defenses may arise out of the Truth in Lending Act, the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, bankruptcy laws, and state laws such as the New York State Home Equity Theft Protection Act and the Deceptive Practices Act.
The point, though, is that even the narrowest procedural victory buys time. And time -- to arrange a refinancing, to find a buyer, or perhaps just to get out of the house in a deliberate orderly manner -- is what your client wants and needs from you.
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Study the Deutsche Bank v. Williams decision.
On Oct. 31, 2007, Judge Christopher Boyko of the U.S. District Court, Northern District, Ohio, dismissed 14 foreclosure filings that had been filed by Deutsche Bank on the ground that the plaintiff bank had not demonstrated that it owned the debt. The manner by which housing-backed debt has been sliced up and traded in recent years has produced a situation in which it is often difficult for the foreclosing party to come up with paperwork it needs. By making it your routine practice to insist that they must, you can at the least embarrass some of them, and improve your bargaining position.
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Tips & Warnings
Don't over-promise. There are attorneys already in this field and their websites and marketing materials may give you some guidance on how you can toe the line, between timidity and excessive exuberance.
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