Resources for Litigators
HIGHLIGHT
The Center for Responsible Lending supports the efforts of lawyers who represent borrowers hurt by all forms of predatory and abusive loans. CRL’s research, for instance our ground breaking 2006 study on the effect of race on the cost of a subprime mortgage, is frequently used by lawyers to shed light on the troubling practices of some lenders. All our research studies are found in the “Research” sections of our website. CRL works with consumer attorneys to help inform our state and federal policy suggestions, and our suggestions incorporate the understanding that borrower protection laws are only fully effective if consumers can hold lenders accountable for violations. And CRL’s communication and outreach teams depend on consumer lawyers to bring to our attention the newest abusive practices by lenders.
CRL also maintains its own litigation team to work directly with consumer attorneys on a small number of high impact cases. We seek to vindicate the rights of consumers under existing borrower protection laws and to establish precedents that prevent future abusive conduct by lenders. In the past we’ve worked with nonprofit legal organizations, such as legal aid offices, and small private firms or solo practitioners who handle consumer law matters. The “In the Courts” sections of our website detail the cases in which CRL has participated. Attorneys interested in co-counseling with CRL’s litigation team should contact us at litigator@responsiblelending.org.
CRL’s litigation team is also a partner in the Consumer Appellate Assistance Project (“CAAP”), which offers help to consumer lawyers arguing before state and federal appellate courts.
To provide additional direct assistance to lawyers struggling to address the current foreclosure crisis, CRL formed the Institute for Foreclosure Legal Assistance (“IFLA”) in late 2007 to support groups providing legal representation to families facing foreclosure and financial ruin because of abusive subprime mortgages. IFLA provides both multi-year and one-time grants to such legal groups.
CRL is proud to partner with, and supports the efforts of, a number of organizations that offer assistance to consumer lawyers. Links to several of those partners, which contain additional resources for consumer lawyers, are provided below.
Consumer Appellate Assistance Project
Institute for Foreclosure Legal Assistance
National Association of Consumer Advocates
