Lawyers needed to wade through foreclosure flood: bar members step up to assist homeowners.

Florida lawyers have responded to the call for volunteers to assist the working poor facing foreclosure. But more are needed.

Three hundred and twenty Bar members have thus far offered their services to FLASH--Florida Attorneys Saving Homes--a collaborative effort launched in July by The Florida Bar; The Florida Bar Foundation; Florida Legal Services; and the Real Property, Probate, and Trust Law Section, designed to provide pro bono assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure. The Business Law Section and the Young Lawyers Division also have recently joined the effort.

As this News went to press, 3,205 distressed homeowners have contacted the Bar seeking help and 263 intake forms have been forwarded to FLS for processing.

"I don't think we anticipated as many calls are we are getting, so we really need to ramp this up some more," said Peggy Rolando of Miami, who is heading up RPPTL's lawyer recruitment effort, adding the section is sending out blast e-mails seeking volunteers and is contacting firms for help in getting their real estate and bankruptcy practitioners involved.

Rolando said the Business Law Section's participation will give the program a boost.

"They bring a lot of expertise to the table because they have a very strong Bankruptcy Law Committee, so these folks have a lot of ideas for restructuring and working with the lenders," she said.

A toll-free hotline--(866) 607-2187--has been established for those who fear they may soon be unable to make their mortgage payments or have missed payments. The effort is believed to be the first of its kind that pairs homeowners with volunteer attorneys before the foreclosure is started, said Kent Spuhler, executive director of FLS. It is not designed for individuals who are already in foreclosure.

Bar staff collect information from the callers and Florida Legal Services screens that information and forwards to the RPPTL Section only those homeowners who appear ripe for a workout with their loan. The case will be assigned to a lawyer who will then negotiate with the lender to try to keep the home from being foreclosed.

Rolando said RPPTL has designated captains in each circuit charged with matching the homeowners with pro bono lawyers. FLS then provides the volunteers the full client package and support services.

Rolando said the section also will soon hold a training session to better familiarize volunteers with mortgage workouts, short sales, deeds in lieu of foreclosure, and other helpful...