Bankruptcy law expert Professor Peter Wright, director of clinical programs at Pierce Law, explains to the Union Leader that clients who are already facing foreclosure often cannot pay legal fees.

Fighting Mortgage Disservice
By Shawne K. Wickham, Union Leader

Peter Wright is director of clinical programs at Franklin Pierce Law Center in Concord, which offers free legal help to low-income individuals.

He said he recently obtained a court order in a bankruptcy case to force Countrywide to provide a complete accounting of the fees and penalties the company had assessed against his client. "And finally -- finally -- they sent the figures out, and they admitted they made a mistake."

But it took five months to reach that point, Wright said. "If I was billing the client, it could easily have been over $2,000," he said. "You're already having trouble with the mortgage. Who can afford $2,000 to arm-wrestle the servicers over these bogus charges?"