Affordable Foreclosure Defense — Pricing
A lot of people who need foreclosure defense don’t call a lawyer because they assume they can’t afford one. That assumption is understandable. Foreclosure litigation is real litigation — it involves court filings, discovery, depositions, and sometimes trial — and the legal fees can be substantial. A busy month on a contested case can up to $10,000 in lawyer bills.
We think that barrier is a problem. The people who most need foreclosure defense are already under serious financial pressure. Telling someone that defending their home costs $10,000 a month on a bad month — and $50,000 or more, in total, in hotly contested cases—doesn’t work. So we built a different model. One that, hopefully, a lot of people can afford.
A Fixed Monthly Payment
Our standard foreclosure defense fee is $3,500 to start and $1,500 per month going forward. That's it. No matter how much work we do in a given month — whether it's a quiet status conference or an intensive round of motion practice — your monthly obligation doesn't change.
That fixed payment is earned when we receive it, and we get to keep it. We're a business — one that exists to help people, but still a business — and predictable revenue is what lets us do this work. The flip side is that you get a payment you can plan around. The basic idea is that in most cases, a successful foreclosure defense puts you back in a position where you're making regular monthly payments to the bank. We want our fee to fit that same frame: something affordable and sustainable, not a number that creates its own financial crisis. The $1,500 figure works for most cases, but it isn't fixed in stone. Cases in federal court or with particularly complex issues may warrant a higher number. For clients with demonstrated financial need, it can be lower.
Built-In Protections
Two automatic protections are built into the monthly model.
Payments pause when you’re significantly ahead. We track the running difference between what you’ve paid and what we’ve spent in time and expenses. If that difference exceeds the maximum, which can happen during quiet stretches of a long case — your monthly payments pause automatically until the balance comes back down.
Payments pause during a trial modification. If your servicer approves you for a trial payment plan as part of a loan modification, you can pause up to three monthly payments to us — one for each month you make a scheduled payment to your servicer. You shouldn’t have to choose between keeping your modification on track and keeping your legal representation.
If the Other Side Pays
Many foreclosure defense cases involve violations of federal and state consumer protection laws — and those laws often allow the court to order the other side to pay attorney’s fees. If a court awards us legal fees for a violation or because we win a foreclosure case, then you can get a significant amount, up to 100%, of your fees back.
We pursue fee-shifting whenever the facts support it — both because it’s available under the law and because it’s one of the ways we try to make sure the cost of this representation lands where it belongs.
Why We Do It This Way
Island Justice Law was built around the idea that people facing serious legal problems shouldn’t be priced out of help. That’s especially true in foreclosure, where the stakes are high, the opposing party has institutional resources, and the legal process is genuinely complex. We’re not in a position to do this work for free, but we can be deliberate about how we structure our fees — and transparent about what those fees are and why.
The specific terms — including the full explanation of when fees are and aren’t refundable — are set out in detail in our client agreement. We go through all of it at the outset of every representation, and we mean it when we say there are no surprises.
If you’re facing foreclosure in Maine and want to talk through your options, contact Island Justice Law for a consultation.
Call (207) 200-7077 or contact us online.
Island Justice Law represents homeowners throughout Maine, including Hancock County, Knox County, Waldo County, and the Downeast region.
This post is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
