Taking out a mortgage to pay the foreclosure lawyer

We’ve all read the stories coming out of the US about the crash of the housing market and the devastating amount of foreclosures, many of which were done improperly. I read an article recently in the New York Times about an unusual way some homeowners are going about hiring a lawyer to fight a foreclosure: agreeing to put a new mortgage on their home, in favour of the lawyer. This is very controversial, particularly as these are homeowners in a very precarious and vulnerable position. While there are undoubtedly some people who are justifiably fighting their lenders, I’m not sure that taking on a second mortgage to their lawyer is the solution.