Helping 'home losers' in the 'Predator-Free Zone'.

Rather than homeowners, April Charney calls her clients "home losers." She calls the subprime mortgage crisis "Enronesque 100,000 times over."

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At Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, Charney is barely able to take a day off, juggling 300 open cases where people are in danger of losing their homes. For the first 10 months of last year, she said, there were 4,933 foreclosures in the Jacksonville area.

"Even if we at Legal Aid take 300 cases a year, it's like dipping a cup in the river," Charney said.

"The Predator-Free Zone" is the nickname for the consumer unit where Charney and Lynn Drysdale work seven-day weeks trying to save their clients' homes.

Most of their clients are poor to begin with, and these homeowners are on the financial fringe.

"Some personal Katrina happens--they lose their ability to work, lose their job, get divorced, become disabled--whatever causes them to get behind on their loan," Charney said.

One client had been a productive worker for many years and then was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and is legally blind.

"Her world caved in and she was four months behind on her payments," Charney said.

Another case involved an elderly woman with diabetes and her husband who uses a walker. They needed new carpet to make it easier for him to get around the house, but didn't have the money. Charney said they were tricked by teaser rates to use the equity on their home to get two loans, and with all the points and fees tacked on, they couldn't afford the payments. It rolled over into unsecured debt, and the house they'd lived in for many years wound up in foreclosure.

"As soon as the foreclosure is filed, bam! Before it gets to the clerk's office for filing, there is $1,200 in lawyers' fees," Charney said.

Add to that an assortment of fees, described by Charney as "drive-by appraisals, broker price opinions and inspection fees, and the problem is compounded when property insurance lapses."

Rather than dealing with a familiar face to ask for a solution, Charney said, "Servicing is a 1-800 number to an outsourced debt collector.

"For the person who has saved up faithfully since they got back on their feet and they want to do a loan workout, I can't get a lender to back off on fees. I can't call the lender because they are securitized trusts managed by big banks like Wachovia. And they are represented by foreclosure law firms. There is a real disconnect. I might as well be talking to myself."

A good workout, she...