A Place Called “Home”
Michael Resnick, Esq. and Donna Graf, Manager of Development

“Among industrialized nations, the United States has the largest number of homeless women and children. Not since the Great Depression have so many families been without homes.” National Center on Family Homelessness.

The Center further goes on to state that “Family homelessness is caused by the combined effects of lack of affordable housing, extreme poverty, decreasing government supports, changing demographics of the family, the challenges of raising children alone, domestic violence, and fractured social supports. As the gap between housing costs and income continues to widen and housing foreclosures increase, more and more families are at risk of homelessness.”

What We Do

The Legal Aid Society operates a very aggressive and sophisticated housing law practice that advocates on behalf of low-income tenants and home owners who become involved in the eviction and foreclosure process. Our typical client is a single parent, working in the hospitality industry struggling to make ends meet!

In Florida, the eviction process is regulated by statute and designed to bring an eviction action to a completion within 7-10 days of filing. Therefore, a tenant involved in an eviction action is at extreme risk for losing their “home” within a very short period of time. Because of this, The Legal Aid Society's housing practice has been organized for maximum flexibility and speed so that tenants, who are impacted by evictions, can be represented in a timely and substantive manner. As part of the Legal Aid Society’s representation of tenants, we attempt to advocate for changes in the law that will better protect the rights of tenants and their families.

As a result of the housing crisis facing Orange County, and consistent with the goal of maintaining affordable housing in Orange County, The Legal Aid Society operates a Foreclosure Clinic three (3) times each week, from noon to 4:00 p.m., the clinic handles 40 to 50 appointments monthly. Attorney Michael Resnick stated “As part of our Foreclosure Clinic; I provide focused, intense and specialized legal assistance involving an applicant's individual foreclosure situation. This legal assistance involves advice as to the foreclosure process, legal defenses and strategies, information as to loan modifications and, where appropriate, formal legal representation by The Legal Aid Society.” Attorney Resnick, in responding to “allegations” that home owners are simply “stalling for time” when defending against a foreclosure action, stated “from The Legal Aid Society’s point of view we never represent a client or take legal action on behalf of a client simply to stall the inevitable. With respect to our efforts on behalf of home owners who face foreclosure and loss of their home, we only provide legal representation after carefully analyzing a client’s financial and legal situations and only after we make the determination that by providing legal assistance to a client such assistance will have a high probability of success in saving the client’s home”.

In response to the foreclosure crisis (and the belief that home owners were having a difficult time communicating with their lenders about loan modifications) Judge Perry, Chief Judge, Ninth Judicial Circuit issued Administrative Order 2009-02, effective February 25, 2009. This Administrative Order requires lenders to provide home owners with information about a home owner's right to attend mediation. However, this Administrative Order (as to the ability to attend a mediation conference) is not mandatory. Rather, a home owner must formally request mediation, in writing, as part of their Answer to the Complaint or in a separate written request to the Court. There is currently an emergency petition before the Florida Supreme Court regarding a statewide foreclosure mediation policy for all of our courts as a result of every Circuit Court responding in a different way to this foreclosure crisis.

The Administrative Order issued by Judge Perry requires that the lender formally provide the home owner with the "Notice to Homeowner", a copy of which is attached as Exhibit "A" to the Administrative Order. As part of Legal Aid’s Foreclosure Clinic Attorney Resnick monitors whether lenders are in compliance with the Administrative Order's notice requirements. From the foreclosure cases that Mr. Resnick has reviewed, it appears that lenders are properly complying with Judge Perry's Administrative Order as to mediation right notification. This notification is attached to the Summons that is served on home owners.

While home owners are receiving notification as part of the Summons that they have the right to attend foreclosure mediation---we are not aware of the number of home owners who have actually petitioned the Court for mediation. Mr. Resnick stated that “It is my sense that even if home owners have been provided with notice of the right to attend mediation they still do not request mediation for a variety of reasons such as: fear, shock, denial, and language issues.”

Mr. Resnick’s reports a positive foreclosure mediation experience stating: “The mediators have been very aggressive in encouraging lenders to enter into loan modifications. There have been some “’successes’” along the way. However, each lender is very different in their approach to loan modifications, and there are underlying issues involving investors (and investor expectations) that we have no control over. I believe that one of the best approaches for dealing with the foreclosure crisis is for our Circuit Judges to exercise their right, under paragraph 1 of Judge Perry's Administrative Order, to automatically refer every foreclosure case to mediation once a responsive pleading has been filed in a foreclosure action.”

The Legal Aid Society also operates the Homeless Advocacy Project using the services of 30 attorneys who donate their time as part of each attorney’s pro bono commitment to the community. The Homeless Advocacy Project provides specialized assistance for the homeless in Orange County in the hopes that we can address some of the fundamental issues that impact the homeless in our community.

In addition to the issues discussed above, The Legal Aid Society also represents clients who have been impacted by real estate fraud, who live in mobile home parks, and rental housing that involves substandard housing conditions.

The Legal Aid Society’s Housing practice is part of a statewide group of similar legal aid housing attorneys who, on a daily basis, provide feedback and information to each other as to housing matters that are ongoing throughout the State of Florida.
Since January 1, 2009; 17 pro bono attorneys have helped with housing cases; 30 with clinics and 254 housing cases have been closed. Over 700 of Orange Counties most vulnerable residents have been served…resulting in families, children and special needs individuals with a roof over their head “a place to call home” or more succinctly, a place to enjoy a holiday, eat a birthday cake, study or sleep soundly. A car or bench does not offer the same comforts.

The Housing practice at The Legal Aid Society is lead by Attorney Michael L. Resnick, with 22 years of legal experience. Mr. Resnick is a graduate of the University of Toledo College Of Law, magna cum laude. Mr. Resnick has, prior to coming to The Legal Aid Society, been a corporate, tax, and real estate attorney and has handled class action litigation.

For more information on pro bono legal services, contact Cathy Tucker, Deputy Director/Pro Bono Coordinator at ctucker@legalaidocba.org or for development issues such as donations or the “Breakfast of Champions” contact Donna Graf, Manager of Development at dgraf@legalaidocba.org.