Feature
University of Arizona Law Students Assist Homeowners at SALA Mortgage Clinic By Rebecca E. Neely University of Arizona law students are taking part in a new program in coordination with Southern Arizona Legal Aid’s (SALA) mortgage clinic, which provides assistance to homeowners dealing with foreclosure.
After receiving training, students speak with homeowners about their financial situations, often having to ask tough questions, and try to come up with options for them, including helping homeowners plan a budget, as well as providing information about different loan modification programs. Second-year law student Caylin Barter said many of the people she speaks with have lost their jobs, are trying to pay large medical bills, or have significant credit card debt, according to the September 4th azstarnet.com article, ‘’Real estate: UA law students aid homeowners facing foreclosure’’. In addition to providing assistance at the clinic, students attend Professor Jean Braucher’s course, which covers the broad aspects of the national mortgage crisis, studies mortgage laws in Arizona, modification programs and provides an introduction to bankruptcy law. According to the azstarnet.com article, Braucher explained that Arizona follows a non-judicial foreclosure process, meaning lenders can opt to sell delinquent borrowers’ houses at auction, without having to go to court. Because of this, filing for bankruptcy can often slow down the foreclosure
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process; this gives homeowners’ attorneys an opportunity to more thoroughly investigate the foreclosure process, as well as determine if any fraudulent lending practices occurred. Lydia Glasson, an attorney with Southern Arizona Legal Aid is happy to have the law students’ assistance. ‘’There’s much more demand for our services than we can provide,’’ she was quoted as saying in the azstarnet.com article. The University of Arizona’s James E. Rogers College of Law is located in Tucson, Arizona. Opened in 1915, it was the first law school in the state. Fully accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA), it is ranked in the top tier of law schools in the United States year after year and has a chapter of the Order of the Coif. Each entering law school class has about 150 students. For nearly sixty years, Southern Arizona Legal Aid, Inc. (SALA), a non-profit law firm, has provided a range of free civil legal services, including legal advice, referrals, and legal education workshops to qualified low-income people and their families.
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