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Pro Bono Committee
Mission Statement The objective of the Real Property Law Sections's Pro Bono Committee is to serve the real property needs of the low income citizens of the state of Michigan and to educate the general public on common real property law matters. The Committee has initiated and coordinates several programs served by the Section's members. These include the Committee's Pro Bono Mentor Volunteer Program providing support for pro bono case volunteer attorneys and the Michigan Land Title Association's Pro Bono Service Program coordinating the volunteer services of the title insurance industry to provide title searches for pro bono case volunteer attorneys. The Pro Bono Committee drafts and distributes educational brochures to Legal Services Corporation offices, human service agencies and other points of distribution throughout the state. Helpful Links Michigan Rule of Professional Conduct Rule 6.1 references Pro Bono Publico Service Voluntary Pro Bono Standards as adopted by the Representative Assembly SBM's Pro Bono Manual The State Bar of Michigan has recognized the compelling need for legal assistance to the poor. On April 28, 1990, the State Bar’s Representative Assembly adopted the Voluntary Standard for Pro Bono Participation. It states: “All active members of the State Bar of Michigan should participate in the direct delivery of pro bono legal services to the poor..." Predatory Lending and High Cost Loan Information
Educational Brochures for Local Communities
Many Legal Services Corporation offices, human services agency offices, and civic organizations provide educational information in brochure format for their clients. Such brochures cover a wide spectrum of educational material, including real estate information on topics such as landlord-tenant rights and obligations, tax lien foreclosure/forfeiture procedures, residential purchases and financing, homeowner insurance issues, etc. The Pro Bono Committee has made available for your distribution eight brochures. All brochures are in PDF format. They are provided here by links to the brochures in brochure format (2 pages with three columns each, which when placed back to back and photocopied on one sheet of paper, create a tri-fold brochure for distribution). The Committee hopes that you will review these brochures, print them in the single-sheet tri-fold format and make them available to your local legal services offices and human services and civic organizations for distribution. If you should have suggestions for revisions (corrections or improvements) to these brochures, please notify the Pro Bono Committee at MMeisner@honigman.com. Also, if you would be interested in contributing additional brochures to this website, particularly on landlord-tenant issues, please contact the Committee. Agencies Provide Consumer Information on Nontraditional Mortgage Loans The federal bank, thrift, and credit union regulatory agencies today announced the publication of a new resource that can help consumers make more informed choices when considering nontraditional mortgage loans. Interest-Only Mortgage Payments and Payment-Option ARMs--Are They for You? features a glossary of lending terms, a mortgage shopping worksheet, and a list of additional information sources. This information can help consumers, whether buying a house or refinancing a mortgage, decide if an interest-only mortgage (an I-O mortgage) or an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) with the option to make a minimum payment (a payment-option ARM) is right for them. The publication stresses the importance of understanding key mortgage loan terms, warns of the risks consumers may face, and urges borrowers to be realistic about whether they can handle future payment increases. If consumers are not comfortable with these risks, the publication suggests that they ask about other mortgage products. Many lenders offer home loans that allow consumers to (1) pay only the interest on the loan during the first few years of the loan term; or (2) make only a specified minimum payment that could be less than the monthly interest on the loan. Lenders have a variety of names for these loans, but with I-O mortgages and payment-option ARMs, consumers could face "payment shock." Monthly payments may double or even triple following the interest-only period or when the payments adjust. In addition, consumers with payment-option ARMs could face negative amortization, a situation in which the monthly payments do not cover all of the interest owed for that month. The unpaid interest is added to the mortgage balance so that the amount owed on the mortgage exceeds the amount originally borrowed. The interagency information is available on each agency's web site. A PDF (Portable Document Format) version is provided so that consumer groups, financial institutions, agencies, and other organizations can download and print copies for distribution to their clients and customers. It includes a space on the back panel for organizations to provide their own contact information. The web addresses are: http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/mortgage_interestonly/default.htm Single copies of the brochure are available free of charge
from: FDIC Public Information Center, 3501 North Fairfax Drive, Room E-1002, Arlington VA 22226; (877) ASK-FDIC, (703) 562-2200 Committee Chair: Committee Members: *Former chair of this committee |
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