My View
The Damon family of Uxbridge thought they'd exhausted all their options trying to save their home. Then they called legal aid.
Spc. Michael Damon, wife Lisa and their two young children, were close to being evicted after the mortgage company foreclosed on their home. Damon had returned injured after an 18-month tour of duty in Iraq and was unable to work, just as the couple's adjustable rate mortgage jumped to almost 11 percent.
The Damons were unable to afford the inflated payments, and the mortgage company was unwilling to negotiate. Then, their legal-aid attorney stepped in and got the mortgage company to rescind the eviction. A year later, the Damons are working with their attorney to renegotiate the terms of the loan.
Meanwhile, Spc. Damon is healthy again and preparing to leave for his second tour of duty in Iraq.
The Damons' story ends well; most Massachusetts residents are not so fortunate. Even in good economic times, civil legal-aid programs routinely turn away almost half of eligible low-income and elderly individuals seeking assistance with civil legal problems threatening their safety, housing, health care and employment. Today, calls to some legal-aid programs are up 30 percent.
Unlike in criminal cases, you do not have the right to an attorney for a civil legal problem such as evictions, denial of health care benefits and custody disputes. Those whom legal-aid programs cannot help must navigate the complex court system alone.
The Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corporation (MLAC), the largest funding source for civil legal aid in the commonwealth, has slashed grants to local legal-aid programs by 40 percent, forcing them to lay off attorneys and paralegals, institute furloughs and leave positions unfilled. In Essex County, Neighborhood Legal Services is losing 29 percent of its budget.
These drastic cuts result from a 54 percent decrease this fiscal year in the income MLAC receives from one of its two funding sources — interest-generating accounts set up by attorneys to hold short-term or modest client funds. As a result of the drop in interest rates and slow real estate market, revenue from these accounts has plummeted.
This funding shortfall has devastating consequences for families and communities in these challenging times. And it now appears further cuts may be on the horizon.
MLAC also relies on an appropriation from the Legislature for support, currently in the amount of $11 million. However, the governor has recommended a 6.3-percent reduction of MLAC funding in the FY10 budget. If the Legislature goes along, even more families will be denied the legal help they need.
Ironically, research shows providing low-income individuals with civil legal aid ultimately saves the commonwealth money by, for example, keeping them out of expensive homeless shelters or reducing their need for state-funded social services.
While private attorneys donate innumerable hours advising and representing low-income individuals on a volunteer basis, this service cannot replace publicly funded legal aid. Law firms and corporate law departments, traditional supporters of local legal-aid programs, are facing their own economic challenges. Other funding sources, such as local foundations, are cutting back their support, too.
In this bleak economy, when more people than ever are losing their jobs, homes and benefits, the need for civil legal aid is skyrocketing, and maintaining level funding for MLAC is critical.
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Edward McIntyre, Kathy Weinman and Donald Bumiller are presidents, respectively, of the Massachusetts, Boston and Essex County bar associations.
