AGREEMENT TO JOIN PRACTICE AREA
The Real Estate Practice Area is designed to be a safe space for sharing materials involving mortgage foreclosure defense and other issues among those directly involved in the affirmative enforcement of consumer protection, predatory lending, and equity stripping laws. Because such defenses are often sensitive and implicate important legal and political issues, sharing this information cannot take place without restricted membership and strict adherence to rules. The purpose of these terms and conditions is to limit membership so that exchange of information is not chilled, and therefore members can freely share ideas that will help members best serve their clients. Therefore, only those qualified subscribers who read and agree to comply with, and during the course of membership continue to comply with, all of the following requirements will be subscribed to the Practice Area.
The Real Estate Practice Area hosts two listservs, the Foreclosure Defense Listserv and the Equity Stripping Listserv, each of which has additional subscription requirements. Admittance to the Real Estate Practice Area does not automatically qualify a member for admittance to either listserv.
Materials on the Practice Area site and distributed through the listservs are intended as samples only and express the personal arguments and opinions of the authors. Nothing contained in such materials can be construed as creating any national policy, agency policy or industry standards. In addition, information posted on the Practice Area site and through the listservs does not provide legal advice and does not give rise to an attorney-client relationship.
The Practice Area administrator reserves the right to unsubscribe any member from the Practice Area or a listserv at any time for violation of any of these terms and conditions. The determination whether an attorney represents interests that are substantially adverse to the interests of the consumers served by members shall be made in the sole discretion of the Practice Area administrator. The Practice Area administrator reserves the right to make exceptions to the terms and conditions set forth herein on a case-by-case basis. For example, an exception might be made for an attorney who works with a government or nonprofit agency doing a broad range of work to create safe and affordable housing opportunities who, in the context of that work, engages in limited foreclosure activity.
As a subscriber to the Real Estate Practice Area, I understand, agree and attest that:
1. Qualifications
A. I am directly involved in the affirmative enforcement of Consumer Protection laws, Predatory Lending laws, or Equity Stripping laws on behalf of complainants. “Enforcement” includes victim complaint intake, investigation and referral to courts or administrative agencies, legal or other research and instruction aimed at curbing predatory lending and equity stripping, and representation of complaining parties in court or administrative proceedings. Alternatively, I am not presently involved in the affirmative enforcement of such laws but I am committed to taking such a case on a pro bono or reduced-fee basis within the next three (3) months.
B. I do not personally represent lenders, title companies, or mortgage brokers in connection with residential real estate transactions. I do not personally represent companies or individuals who (i) invest in distressed residential properties or (ii) engage in residential real estate transactions with homeowners as lender, landlord, or contract for deed vendor.
C. I am not employed by, and do not control, direct, supervise, lobby for, own or have any interest in, any entity whose primary for-profit business is the general rental or sale of dwellings or the provision of mortgage loans, homeowner’s or renter’s insurance or any other housing-related transactions. I am also not employed by, and do not control, direct, supervise, lobby for, own or have any interest in, an industry or trade group or organization that represents members who engage in, as their primary business, the foregoing housing-related transactions. This rule is not intended to exclude those whose primary occupation is the affirmative enforcement of Consumer Protection laws, Predatory Lending laws and/or Equity Stripping laws as defined above and who engage in real-estate transactions, such as rental of homes, as a side-business as a private individual. This rule is also not intended to exclude nonprofit entities that provide housing or housing services as part of a larger mission to improve housing opportunity for individuals who have traditionally had difficulty locating appropriate housing.
D. In addition to meeting the qualifications for the Practice Area set forth above, if I request admittance to a listserv, I understand, agree and attest that:
i. Foreclosure Defense Listserv: Neither I nor my law firm, company or organization (a) represents, nor intends to represent, lenders, title insurance companies, or mortgage brokers in connection with residential real estate transactions, (b) issues title insurance policies, (c) represents, nor intends to represent, consumer creditors, including without limitation credit card companies or car loan companies, or (d) engages, or intends to engage, in the practice of consumer debt collection.
ii. Equity Stripping Listserv: Neither I nor my law firm, company or organization represents, nor intends to represent, companies or individuals who (a) invest in distressed residential properties or (b) engage in residential real estate transactions with homeowners as lender, landlord, or contract for deed vendor.
E. I have been subscribed to this Practice Area and listservs (if any) based on my professional position at the time I asked to be added. I will resign from the Practice Area and listservs (if any) immediately upon leaving that position by notifying the Practice Area administrator. I am entitled to re-apply for membership if my new position meets the requirements set forth herein. I also understand that successors to my position are not automatically entitled to membership to either the Practice Area or listservs and must apply on their own. Further, I understand that if my firm, company or organization begins to represent interests that are substantially adverse to the interests of the consumers served by members, I will notify the Practice Area administrator immediately and resign from the Practice Area and/or listservs as appropriate.
F. Law Students. If I am a law student, I understand that I will only be admitted to a listserv when sponsored by an existing member of the listserv, and I agree that I will resign from the listserv immediately when my employment or clerkship with the sponsoring member terminates by notifying the Practice Area administrator. I also understand that my membership in the Practice Area will be reevaluated by the Practice Area administrator upon my graduation or other change in circumstances.
2. Confidentiality of Materials and Information
A. The contents of the Practice Area and listservs are confidential. By joining the Practice Area, I am entering into a confidential relationship with my fellow members. I understand that breaching that confidential relationship will cause harm to my fellow members and will not be tolerated. While I am free to discuss cases and statutes discussed in the Practice Area and on the listservs with colleagues who also do enforcement work, I understand that I am not free to distribute materials created by members to non-members without express permission to do so.
B. Materials and information may not be shared with non-Members. Providing all or part of the contents of materials from the Practice Area to a person who is not a member of the Practice Area is prohibited UNLESS the person who posted the materials originally has indicated at the top of the materials “OK TO DISTRIBUTE” or has otherwise given specific permission to distribute. Forwarding listserv e-mail messages or attachments to a person who is not a member of that listserv is not allowed at any time and may result in the immediate exclusion of the listserv subscriber who does so.