The Recovery Access to Justice Project seeks to address the problems created by the current economic crisis by expanding the level of legal assistance available to poor persons particularly in the areas of home foreclosures and housing assistance, healthcare access, public benefits and employment.  The project will recruit and support additional volunteers and enhance efforts at collaboration with human services agencies to most effectively meet the needs of the victims of the recession.

            AmeriCorps members will work as legal assistants in seven established poverty law offices.  They are offered the opportunity for direct, substantive legal experience, excellent training and a chance to make a critical difference in the lives of poor people and their communities.  Positions are available in each of the following offices: Bath, Elmira, Geneva, Ithaca, Jamestown, Olean and Rochester, New York.

Legal Steps the Bank Will Take

The bank will usually send you many letters that ask you to catch up with your monthly payments. It usually takes several months for the bank to decide that it will start a foreclosure case to take back your house. Your mortgage cannot be foreclosed on without a court action. You will be served with a notice and given 20 days to answer the papers. If you do not answer the court papers, the bank will probably ask the court for permission to sell your home at a foreclosure sale. Even if you do answer the court papers, the court will eventually give the bank permission to sell your home if it decides that you have failed to make your payments. You should talk to a lawyer about what defenses you can write in your answer.