The New York Times Reported yesterday on a new law in New York which will allow homeowners who win in foreclosure proceedings to have the lenders pay their lawyers’ fees. In other types of cases, such as employment and civil rights cases, legal fees are usually awarded to the winning party, but foreclosure litigation has been an exception, until now.

This law comes at a good time for homeowners, because banks have recently come under scrutiny for the way they documented mortgages during the housing boom, giving homeowners a better chance to get banks’ foreclosure action thrown out, and have their legal fees covered. Although some don’t think the new law would substantially tip the scale in favor of the homeowner in terms of getting banks to settle with homeowners etc, an expected benefit of the law is that it will make it easier for homeowners to get representation, because it provides a “pretty reasonable incentive” for lawyers to take their case.

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