Notes on a Nonprofit, a regular feature of NEW’s blog, profiles nonprofit organizations in southeast Michigan.
This month, Notes on a Nonprofit features an interview with Julie Dunbar, the Executive Legal Director for HEART Legal Services, and Suzanne Siegle, HEART’s Associate Legal Director. Dunbar and Siegle were already practicing law together when they decided to start a nonprofit that provided services to at-risk homeowners at no charge.
What is HEART Legal Services?
HEART Legal Services stands for Homeowner Education and Representation. We are a nonprofit organization that was formed in response to the growing housing crisis in Washtenaw County and throughout southeast Michigan.
Our Mission is simple: to keep homeowners in their homes and to increase homeownership stability.
HEART Legal Services provides housing counseling, homeowner education, and related legal services at no charge to at-risk homeowners to assist with foreclosure prevention, mortgage workouts, loss mitigation, and credit counseling to restore homeownership stability and to improve the lives and livelihoods of Michigan homeowners. We are staffed with experienced Michigan attorneys, and offer our services to people regardless of assets or income.
Tell us a little about Julie Dunbar and Suzanne Siegle.
Julie Dunbar serves as the Executive Legal Director for HEART Legal Services. She has been practicing law for over sixteen years, focusing on estate planning and administration, small business law, elder law, and real estate/real property law. Last summer, calls to the practice shifted from requesting her services to help buy and sell real estate to calls from desperate homeowners afraid of losing their homes to foreclosure. Having worked and lived in southeast Michigan her entire life, Ms. Dunbar understands well the need in her community for legal housing counseling and assistance. She has been an active volunteer for many causes and currently serves as Vice President of the Board of “Friends of CASA” (Court Appointed Special Advocates) and on two homeowner association boards.
Suzanne Siegle serves as the Associate Legal Director for HEART Legal Services. She practices law with Julie Dunbar, also in the areas of estate planning and administration, small business law, elder law, and real estate/real property law. A licensed Michigan attorney since 2003, her background is in academia and nonprofit management. She has experience working in and managing nonprofit organizations and has lived and worked in southeast Michigan her entire life.
What role did the state of Michigan’s economy play in your decision to establish HEART Legal Services?
Michigan has been one of the states hardest hit in this economic downturn, with its unemployment rate reaching 12.9% in April 2009, the highest in the nation. The ongoing challenges in the automotive industry have only exacerbated Michigan’s struggles. With 1 in every 136 homes facing foreclosure, it is evident that homeowners need real and
comprehensive help. Because so many homeowners are already struggling to make their mortgage payment to keep the very roof over their heads, it became apparent that HEART Legal Services could not charge clients for its services. If the homeowners had the money to pay for this help, then they should be putting it toward their mortgage.
How will HEART Legal Services need to evolve as the Michigan economy improves?
Successful and healthy homeownership is the cornerstone of a strong and thriving state and national economy. We know from our professional and personal experience that buying and selling real estate is an involved process with a myriad of legal documentation. Equipping people with the resources, the legal and financial information and what to look for in the proverbial “fine print” to effectively read and understand the documents that they will be signing is invaluable. In any economy and housing market, this is a much needed service to homeowners and may prevent mortgage difficulties down the road, and especially in this economy, our services are needed to help homeowners who are in trouble and to work towards stable and solid solutions that are in the homeowners’ best interests.
What is the most important thing that individuals struggling with their mortgages and facing possible foreclosure need to know?
We would tell them that help is out there and not to delay. We tell our clients that the first payment they must make every month is their mortgage payment. This is so critical since the mortgage note is secured by their home. For those homeowners who are at risk of not making this crucial payment, they need to seek help immediately, before the home goes into foreclosure, and especially before the sheriff’s sale. There are so many more favorable options for loan modifications and workouts prior to the sale. After that point, the options greatly diminish and it is much more difficult to keep the home.
What are the current needs/challenges for HEART Legal Services? And, what can people do to help?
Because we assist clients at no charge, funding is always our greatest challenge and our most consistent need. We have been very fortunate in receiving donations but as we have found, there is no shortage of work and an increase and with more funding we can serve more homeowners. Our work benefits all homeowners, whether in trouble with their mortgages or not, since stabilizing homeownership stabilizes the housing market and elevates property values for every homeowner.
Location and Contact Information:
phone: 734-669-2701 email: HEARTLegalMI@aol.com