Free Training Opportunity for Pro Bono Attorneys: FORECLOSURE PREVENTION & DEBT DEFENSE

Free Training Opportunity for Pro Bono Attorneys:  FORECLOSURE PREVENTION & DEBT DEFENSE 

Friday, March 9, 2012

8:30 AM – 4:00 PM

Ecker Business Training Center

6751 Columbia Gateway Drive

Columbia, MD 21046 

Pro bono attorneys barred in Maryland are invited to attend one or both of the below free training sessions in exchange for a pro bono commitment. 

SESSION ONE: 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

MARYLAND FORECLOSURE MEDIATION AND MORTGAGE FRAUD PREVENTION ACT

A Pro Bono Training Program Offered by Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland and Civil Justice Inc. as part of Maryland’s Foreclosure Prevention Pro Bono Project

 Faculty:           Civil Justice Inc.

 Topics:

• Maryland’s foreclosure process;
• Foreclosure mediation: what it is and how it works;
• Litigating mortgage servicing claims under the Maryland Mortgage Fraud Prevention Act;
• Review of sample pleadings, discovery, motions & attorney fees.

Participating attorneys are expected to accept two pro bono foreclosure cases AND/OR accept one pro bono foreclosure case and provide free brief legal advice to homeowners at one foreclosure solutions workshop.  For more information and to register, please visit www.probonomd.org/foreclosure-prevention-training or contact Annie Brinkmann at 443-703-3050 or abrinkmann@probonomd.org.

SESSION TWO: 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

DEFENDING DEBT BUYER LAWSUITS IN STATE COURT

A Pro Bono Training Program Offered by Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland and University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law as part of Maryland’s Consumer Protection Project

 Faculty:           Professor Peter A. Holland, Esq., Visiting Professor

University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law

Consumer Protection Clinic

 Topics:           

• Introduction to the debt buyer industry;
• Litigating debt buyer claims: common claims & defenses;
• Affirmative claims against debt buyers under FDCPA & MCDCA;
• New Maryland Rules for cases filed after January 1, 2012;
• Review of sample pleadings, motions & attorney fees.

Participating attorneys are expected to provide ten hours of pro bono legal service to consumers in debt buyer cases through brief advice clinics and/or direct representation.  For more information and to register, please visit www.probonomd.org/consumer-protection or contact Emily Fisher at 443-703-3054 or efisher@probonomd.org.