News
August 4, 2008
Treating the foreclosure disease
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Federal dollars will flow into Milwaukee this fall to treat the ailing
housing market. Government agencies should ensure the city gets its
fair share and uses it wisely
July 21, 2008
Car-title
loans a trap for some
Columbia Tribune
Rosa Mobley never imagined her debts would swell so large. There were
times when the 66-year-old widow, who struggles by on Social Security
and her pension as a school crossing guard in Chicago, fell behind on
her gas, electric and mortgage payments. But she always tried to pay
something toward her auto title loan because she feared losing the car
that has given her freedom.
May 21, 2008
High
court to hear jail case
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Whether Milwaukee County Should have to compensate thousands of
former jail inmates for conditions that violated an agreement aimed at
easing overcrowding will be taken up by the Wisconsin Supreme Court, it
was announced today. In 1996, the Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee
brought class action lawsuit on behalf of those incarcerated in the
booking-area of the downtown facility.
May 8, 2008
Greater
legal aid sought for poor
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Linda Paddock was beside herself. She was being sued for nearly $12,000
after defaulting on a car loan - seven years after the auto had been
repossessed. Paddock earned enough money to pay the rent and put food
on the table by working two jobs. She earned slightly too much,
however, to qualify for a lawyer's assistance from the Legal Aid
Society, a not-for-profit agency that represents the poor.
April 13, 2008
Faces
of hope
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
It was Sheila Lynn Gibbons' first encounter with the criminal
justice system. Arrested on a drug charge and sent to the Milwaukee
County Jail, she sat in a crowded holding room with dozens of men and
women, waiting for her name to be called.
March 17, 2008
Trapped by a
title loan?
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
In December 2001, Kenneth Jones was desperate. A skilled
machinist, he had been laid off when Emco Metals was bought by another
company and his unemployment benefits had expired. He needed cash to
buy food and pay the rent. Like many others in Wisconsin, Jones took
out a loan using his car as collateral. He thought he would be able to
easily pay back the $800.
March 14,
2008
Legal
aid society wins grant for foreclosure program
Milwaukee Business Journal
The Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee will receive $300,000 -- part of a
19-state, $6.5 million program -- to help Milwaukee residents prevent
foreclosure on their
homes.
February 14,
2008
Senate
Committee on Aging reviews foreclosure aftermath
US Federal News Service
The Senate Committee on Aging conducted a hearing "to examine the
housing foreclosure aftermath, focusing on concerns for elderly
homeowners," according to a committee notice published in the
Congressional Record. The committee received testimony at the hearing,
which was conducted on Feb. 13, from William Malone, contractor for
Malone and Malone Construction; Catey Doyle, chief staff attorney at
the Civil Division of Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee.
January 30,
2008
Court
sides with Milwaukee inmates
WisconsinState Journal
Inmates who had to sleep on the floor next to urinals and endure
crowded, filthy and bug-infested cells at the Milwaukee County jail
must be compensated, an appeals court ruled Tuesday. The county had
promised to stop those conditions in a 2001 consent decree to settle a
lawsuit brought by inmates. But it violated the decree more than 16,000
times during a 29-month span after the deal was reached, the District 1
Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday.
January 28,
2008
Inmates
can get damages for jail violations
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
In an action that could cost taxpayers millions of dollars,
the state Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that Milwaukee County should
compensate thousands of former jail inmates for conditions that
violated an agreement to ease crowding.
November 14,
2007
Foreclosure
scams focus of hearing
WisconsinState Journal
Some Wisconsin homeowners desperate to keep their houses have
fallen prey to scam artists who falsely promise to help them avoid
foreclosure, lawmakers said Tuesday. The salespeople use deceptive
practices to convince homeowners to transfer ownership of their
properties, which they refinance and sell for a profit, lawmakers and
victims' advocates said. They testified during a public hearing in
favor of a bill that would create new regulations governing so-called
foreclosure rescues.
November 13, 2007
Wisconsin
Lawmakers: Homeowners are swindled
ABC Money
Some Wisconsin homeowners desperate to keep their houses have fallen
prey to scam artists who falsely promise to help them avoid
foreclosure, lawmakers said Tuesday.
November 5, 2007
Foreclosure
picture dims
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Debts overpowered 2,280 Wisconsin homeowners in October, ForeclosuresWI
.com reported Monday. October's caseload, the highest monthly volume on
record at the Milwaukee foreclosure-tracking company, pushed the Badger
State foreclosure tally to 17,013 in this year's first 10 months.
That's 28% higher than the 13,256 a year earlier.
November 5,
2007
Milwaukee
Attorney’s Career Comes Full Circle
Wisconsin Law Journal
Since Thomas G. Cannon retired from private practice in 2000, he has
been catching up with his past. Or perhaps his past has been catching
up with him. After an honorable discharge from the U.S. Marine Corps in
1969, Cannon attended the University of Wisconsin Law School and joined
the Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee after graduation.
August 23, 2007
Shrewd lenders
spark US mortgage chaos
BBC
A divorcee from a white middle class family in suburban
Milwaukee, Peg had run up large medical bills and was too proud to tell
her own family that she was paying for everyday expenses with her
credit card. Then a man called and offered to help consolidate her
bills and pay off her credit card.
July 11,
2007
Foreclosure
crisis sparks investigation
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Amid Wisconsin's deepening mortgage foreclosure crisis, Legal
Aid Society of Milwaukee on Tuesday announced an inquiry into what went
wrong. "We need to find out who are the people being foreclosed, who
are their servicers and original lenders, and what kinds of loans did
they get," said Catey Doyle, the organization's chief staff attorney.
"There are a lot of questions about who bears responsibility for this
situation, (and) the only way to find out who the players are is to
manually go through court files."
June 16,
2007
From
foreclosure fire into eviction frying pan
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
John Bularz might lose his 17-year Town of Eagle home to the very man
who offered to help him save it. Faced with foreclosure in December
2005, Bularz signed a contract with James A. Black, a Milwaukee police
officer with a sideline in what its purveyors call "foreclosure
rescues."
April 2007
Bridging
the Justice Gap
Wisconsin Lawyer
Perhaps no one in the legal profession would be surprised to hear that
a "justice gap" exists in Wisconsin. What may surprise you is the
number of Wisconsinites who fall into that gap.
More than 500,000 of our state’s residents face serious civil legal
problems without any legal assistance, according to the findings of a
State Bar of Wisconsin study, “Bridging the Justice Gap: Wisconsin’s
Unmet Legal Needs,” issued in March 2007.
March 17, 2007
Lack
of state legal aid funding called a ‘justice gap’
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
In a report released Friday, a State Bar committee indicted
Wisconsin for what it labeled a "justice gap" in civil courts caused by
not providing any state funding while most other states do so.
Past News Briefs
Legal Aid Wins Consumer Victory in Wisconsin Supreme Court. Attorneys from the Legal Aid Society won an important case on behalf of the state's low-income consumers. On May 25, 2006, the Wisconsin Supreme Court held that a mandatory, one-sided arbitration clause in an auto title loan contract was unconscionable and therefore unenfoceable. The decision was part of the Legal Aid Society's ongoing battle against predatory lenders who take advantage of low-income consumers with high-interest, short-term loans at interest rates exceeding 300% annually.
90th Anniversary. The Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee will celebrate its 90th anniversary on September 7, 2006 with a noon luncheon at the Italian Community Center, 631 East Chicago Street . Governor Jim Doyle will be the principal speaker at the event. A crowd of several hundred judges and lawyers is expected to attend. Tickets are $35 per person or $350 for a table of ten. They can be ordered from Kathy Smith at 414/727-5321 or ksmith@lasmilwaukee.com .
Chief Staff Attorney Jim Brennan honored. On June 13, the Legal Aid Society's longtime head of the Civil Division was honored by the Milwaukee Bar Association with its Lawyer of the Year Award for his leadership in providing legal services to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. In addition, the State Bar conferred its President's Award on Jim for his outstanding service to the Bar, including a term as Chair of the Board of Governors.
Legal Aid Society honored by State Bar of Wisconsin . The Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee was honored at the recent State Bar conference in Madison for providing 90 years of service to the poor of Wisconsin. The Society was awarded the Bar's prestigious Pro Bono Award on May 3. Chief Justice Shirley S. Abrahamson presided over the event.
Legal Aid Staff Attorney Catey Doyle honored as a Leader in the Law. On March 29, Legal Aid Society Staff Attorney Catherine M. Doyle was honored as a Leader in the Law for her outstanding work in combating the predatory loan industry that takes advantage of low-income families. The award was conferred by the editors of the Wisconsin Law Journal.