Update on Committee Goals
Need for Volunteer Lawyers Continues
By Kade A. McClure

As longtime managing attorney of the Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma Lawton Office and Access to Justice Committee chairperson for a second year, I welcome this opportunity to review the committee’s work from last year, delineate some of our goals for the upcoming year and describe some of the ways that pro bono attorneys are needed to assist Legal Aid Services in the real estate area.;

THE COMMITTEE IN 2007

Last year the committee worked on prospective amendments to the Oklahoma Rules of Professional Conduct in regard to pro se representation. The reality of increased Internet resources for litigants to research their legal issues and draft their own pleadings have placed this issue directly into the courts of our state. Judges are faced everyday with the dilemma of pro se litigants.; The committee will continue working on a solution that will give court access to the public, afford lawyers and judges guidelines that ensure attorneys’ livelihood and provide judges with ethical guidelines.;

Other issues for the committee last year included legal access for the homeless, law school loan repayment assistance, requests for assistance from prisoners in the state penal system, a listing and review of Oklahoma statutes requiring appointment of counsel and the need for a statewide pro bono referral system.;

A homeless subcommittee was created at the first meeting of last year acknowledging the special legal access needs of significant numbers of homeless in the state. Last month the Access to Justice column in the Oklahoma Bar Journal was written by Will Hoch, a committee member, entitled “Does Oklahoma Need A Homeless Court?“ The article documents other states’ efforts to solve some of the thorny issues of the homeless and their interactions with the court system.; Access to justice for the homeless remains a priority for this year’s agenda.

LEGAL AID AND REAL ESTATE

Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma’s high priorities for client acceptance include loss of a client’s home which is being purchased or which is owned.; The subprime mortgage crisis has now become international and resulted in the removal of several chief executive officers of large financial corporations blamed for unprecedented loss of profits.; And the fallout reaches into Oklahoma where borrowers with marginal credit have secured mortgages with variable interest rates that will result in foreclosures.; Sources predict that the rate of foreclosures will increase this year and next.; The loss of a home to a marginal or low income family is of course devastating.; Equity in a home is often a family’s largest asset, and the prospect of seeking alternate housing can be daunting. Defense of a foreclosure suit can be long and often the only solution is a bankruptcy.; Pro bono attorneys take on these bankruptcies and more attorneys will be needed in response to this crisis.

Legal Aid Services also prioritizes the acceptance of clients who rent and may live in unsafe housing, or may be locked out of their home for late rent, or may be terminated from public housing.; These cases are tried in small claims courts with packed dockets, and many renters have valid defenses including failure of the landlord to provide habitable housing, and the right to counterclaim for damages when a landlord locks a client out without going to court.; Many of these are winnable cases and some result in money judgments to the renter.; Too often, Legal Aid Services is unable to provide representation because there are not enough lawyers.; Preventing an eviction can prevent the loss of a job, keep a family off the streets and out of shelters.

Another real estate issue common to low income clients is rent to own contracts or as they are also known: contracts for deed.; These contracts if notarized, are deemed mortgages under Oklahoma law [Title 16 Oklahoma Statutes §11A] and can be filed at the county clerk’s office to equitable title.; They are common among buyers who have poor or no credit and provide little or no security of title.; Often the unscrupulous seller moves to evict the buyer in small claims court, and the buyer without funds or legal counsel is unable to assert ownership rights and remove the case to district court where it can be tried as a title dispute or foreclosure.