Photograph by Flickr user lumaxart.
In another example of what can be accomplished when faculty, students, and librarians work together, four HLS clinical students have just completed a semester-long project with Kenneth R. Feinberg, Special Master of the 9/11 Fund, that attempts to “staunch the widespread mortgage foreclosure crisis by bringing banks and homeowners together to refashion mortgage agreements.”
The students (Erin Walczewski ’10, Erin Katzen ’10, Nevin Kamath ’09, and Sam Prevatt ’10) and Feinberg created a multi-tiered plan that includes outreach to banks, homeowners, and state attorneys general, urging the use of a mediation model created as part of the project. The plan includes proposals for training mediators who can meet with lenders and homeowners to negotiate restructured mortgages so people can remain in their homes.
In the initial stages of the project, the students read as much as they could about the issues and enlisted the “phenomenal research help” of June Casey, Reference Librarian & Pro Bono Services Coordinator. Because of everyone’s efforts, the project has garnered interest from the attorneys general of Massachusetts and Maryland.
To read more about the project click here.