by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
A Jacksonville group has been formed to help the city’s indigent community deal with foreclosure issues.
Led by Michael Figgins, the executive difrector of Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, the business people are helping those seeking relief from bankruptcy and foreclosure.
Figgins and his staff have been inundated with people seeking assistance and, while they are facing life-altering problems, Figgins is facing issues of his own: budget cuts from everywhere and not enough attorneys and staff to handle the number of cases JALA takes in on a weekly basis.
Help is on the way, though, and it’s through a public/private partnership between the City, a banker and a publicist. If that sound like a campaign in the making, you’re right. However, no one is seeking office. The goal of the triumvirate is to raise $1 million for JALA.
“The goal is to get this done in the next six months or by the end of the calendar year,” said City Council member Kevin Hyde, who is also an attorney with Foley & Lardner.
The Jacksonville City Council has approved $184,840 to help. With that on the way, enter the private sector.
Hyde has enlisted the help of McCormick Agency President Paul McCormick and Regions Bank Area Director Marty Lanahan — both of whom bring considerable contacts and experience to the initiative.
“Paul has been involved in JALA for a long time and he’s done a lot in the community,” said Hyde. “Marty is a leader in the baking industry.”
Hyde said members of his firm have committed to doing pro bono work for JALA but he knows it’s not enough. It will take, Hyde says, a combination of individuals and foundations raising money and the local banks working with those who are facing foreclosure. Hyde admits some of the foreclosures may be unavoidable. However, he’s looking to help those who are losing their homes due to unscrupulous mortgage practices or predatory lending.
“What this does is, it will allow us to respond to the needs of the community as it relates to foreclosure,” said Figgins, adding that foreclosure creates other issues, many of which lead to crime. “Just like the more police on the street, the less crime. The more Legal Aid attorneys we have the more cases we can take.”
Figgins said during the first quarter of this year there were about 3,500 foreclosure cases in the Jacksonville area — a big jump from last year. Figgins said the problem will likely get worse and he likens it to a disease in which the full effects aren’t known until years later.
“It will probably crest in the summer or fall of 2009,” said Figgins, adding he expects his office will still be dealing with those cases into 2011 and 2012.
McCormick said his role is to help spread the word about the fundraising goal and set up events designed to raise money.
“My job is to help on the public sector side,” he said. “We are not close to slowing down (with foreclosures) and we are not near the peak.”
McCormick is convinced properly arming JALA for the looming battles is imperative. He also said JALA has a proven track record.
“They have won every case when a house is up for foreclosure,” said McCormick, explaining that every mortgage leaves a paper trail, but often on that isn’t easy to track. “If you can’t prove the paper trail, you can’t foreclose.”
McCormick has managed political campaigns and other initiatives, but nothing like this.
“Not even vaguely. It’s a blast,” he said.
Figgins said he will use the money to establish a JALA office near the areas of town hardest hit by foreclosure.
“We will do more in the community as opposed to this central location,” said from the JALA offices on West Adams Street. “We will create a new presence where the foreclosure activity is the greatest.”