When I ventured onto its website, http://www.phillyvip.org/, I found some examples of what these lawyer-volunteers must contend with:
"Client seeks assistance with an adverse possession claim to the property that he purchased in 1981 but for which he's never recorded the deed. The deed was subsequently lost when client took out a home equity loan with a company that no longer exists. The Seller is also almost certainly deceased. . . ."
"Client is the victim of a fraudulent deed transfer . . . from the client's mother, the record owner, to a third party in 2006. . . . Client has been living in the house, uninterrupted and without knowledge of any of these proceedings, since 2000." (One of the proceedings was a foreclosure of a mortgage taken out by the third party.)
"Client, who is suffering from cancer, needs assistance in obtaining legal title to part of his property and in resolving a real estate tax issue."
Over and over, the situation appears to be that for decades people have been living in houses they believe they own. Then one day, the city, or the electric or gas company, or a stranger shows up at the door and tells them they do not.
Or perhaps, as in many of the foreclosure cases I've written about in the last three years, the knowledge of these things was relegated to a drawer and avoided.
VIP strongly advises that if you know you have a problem, contact Community Legal Services at 215-227-2400 or 215-981-3700; Philadelphia Legal Assistance at 215-981-3800; Senior Law Center, for people 60 years and older, at 215-988-1244, or the Homeless Advocacy Project at 215-523-9595.
These agencies must refer you to VIP. You cannot call VIP directly.
