The rapidly increasing number of foreclosures is creating a shortage of attorneys knowledgeable about this legal specialty.
About 86 percent of foreclosure victims didn't have legal counsel last year, according to the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law. University of Miami law professor Michael Froomkin says one of the most common defenses is that lenders have lost control of the mortgage and don’t know who owns it. This situation almost certainly requires legal assistance to work through the complexities.
The issue that is most likely to keep lawyers out of the field is low pay. Attorney Melanca Clark, who is lobbying Congress and state legislatures to create more funding for foreclosure defense attorneys, says, "We need structural reforms as badly as we need more [foreclosure defense] lawyers.”