Archives for August 2016

Zombie Home Legislation

A brick home

In late June 2016 the legislature in the state of New York passed a bill that created a state wide zombie house registry.  This statute created a toll free number for homeowners to report eyesores related to abandoned homes in foreclosure. The statute imposed fines on banks that fail to maintain homes which were abandoned by their homeowners during the foreclosure process.

Speeding up Foreclosures in New York Courts

This new statute in addition to dealing with the abandoned “Zombie” home issue is also designed to speed up the foreclosure process in New York state courts.

Zombie Homes on Long Island

Many communities on Long Island have had problems in recent years dealing with thousands of homes which were abandoned by their owners as their homes went into foreclosure.  This problem also exists in parts of the city of New York and cities in Upstate New York.

Misunderstanding By Homeowners

Homeowners sometimes misunderstand how the foreclosure process works. The service of a foreclosure summons and complaint upon the homeowner by the bank holding the mortgage, on the home is the start of a process whereby the bank takes back the ownership of the home.  Homeowners sometimes misunderstand how the legal process of foreclosure progresses from the initiation of the lawsuit to the bank taking title to the home when it is sold on the courthouse steps. Even when the bank takes title to the home this doesn’t give them the right to show up at the house and force the homeowner from the home.

Attorney Elliot S. Schlissel and his associates are foreclosure attorneys representing homeowners in foreclosure cases throughout the metropolitan New York area.

Zombie Home Legislature: Part Two

Under New York State law, the bank or the individuals or the party that purchased the home at the foreclosure sale must bring a landlord tenant proceeding if they seek to evict the homeowners. In many cases the bank and or the people who purchased the property at the foreclosure sale are prepared to negotiate and discuss an amicable resolution of the issue of the homeowners vacating the home.

This new statute gives municipalities and the state dept of financial services the power to take legal action against banks and mortgage serving companies that do not maintain vacant homes.  The banks and or mortgage servicer can be fined as much as $500.00 dollars per day for each property they do not properly maintain. State senator Jeffrey Klein stated concerning this new legislation “finally, banks will be responsible to maintain zombie properties that have caused property devaluation across our state.”

Banks Failure During Foreclosure Process

Banks who are found to not be acting appropriately or exercising good faith during the foreclosure court proceedings can be fined up to $25,000.00 under this new statute. This new statute also can cause banks to be fined up to $25,000.00 for failure to produce required documents, during foreclosure mediation court conferences.

NY Foreclosure Defense Attorney Elliot Schlissel

Eliot S Schlissel is a foreclosure defense lawyer representing homeowners throughout the New York Metropolitan area with regard to obtaining mortgage modifications and defending foreclosure lawsuits. Elliot and his staff of attorneys take legal action to keep homeowners and their families in their homes by fighting foreclosure lawsuits and working with financial institutions to obtain mortgage modifications for the firm’s clients.

Foreclosure Settlement Conferences in New York: Part One

A home with an american flag hanging on the side of it

Foreclosure lawsuits are initiated by the attorneys for the financial institutions by filing a copy of the sun’s complaint in the County which the home of being foreclosed on is located. Therefore, the attorneys representing the substitution hire a processor server, a copy of the summons and think. When homeowners receive the summons and complaint, often they have no idea what to do. However, shortly thereafter, he was homeowners seek this adequate settlement conference at the scheduled. Homeowners assume this court settlement conferences are dealing with the lawsuit initiated against them by the financial institution. Unfortunately, this is not true. While most homeowners default in responding to the summons and complaint, a significant amount of homeowners in the metropolitan area actually attended the foreclosure settlement conferences.

These homeowners participate in the settlement conferences, prepare mortgage modification documents, submit the mortgage modification documents and either receive a mortgage modification or are denied. If they receive a mortgage modification, the foreclosure lawsuit does not move forward. If they either don’t submit mortgage modification documents to the financial institution and\or the mortgage modification application is denied, the case is removed from the foreclosure conference part and put into a trial part. Unfortunately, for the homeowner, if they only participated in the mortgage modification conference and did not file an answer to the summons and complaint with the banks attorney and the court, they defaulted in the lawsuit. Default means an admission of the allegations contained in the foreclosure pleadings submitted by the bank’s lawyers. Thereafter, the attorneys for the bank will usually bring a motion for summary judgment, obtain judgment against the homeowner and have a referee appointed to sell the home.

NY Foreclosure Defense Attorney Elliot Schlissel

Solution to The Problem

When served with a summons think the question attorney to submit a written answer to the summons served them institution.

Mortgage Fraud Justice After 8 Years

Signing mortgage contract

In 2007, Newsday, a Long Island Newspaper, uncovered a mortgage scheme by Alan Wildler. Mr. Wildler founded HTFC Corporation, a Garden City mortgage bank. Mr. Wildler perpetrated $30,000,000 in mortgage fraud on Long Island residents. It is now 9 years later and he has recently been convicted regarding his mortgage fraud conspiracy. He now will face up to 30 years in prison.

How The Fraud Worked

Mr. Wildler would buy properties and thereafter transfer the properties to a trust. He would then sell the properties for as much as $300,000 more than he paid for them. He utilized false appraisals which justified the higher prices. He sold the properties during the time of a hot real estate market which concealed the activity for a while. Thereafter, Wildler’s bank would sell off the mortgage loan. Other financial institutions were thereafter defrauded by Wildler’s actions. Banks that purchased the loans as well as the Nassau County Assessment Office flagged the properties as fraudulent transactions. Unfortunately, it took more than 8 years after the mortgage fraud scheme was uncovered for Mr. Wildler to be convicted for his wrongdoing.

Mortgage Fraud Convictions Are Rare

The real estate market had a significant decline in the year 2008. Thereafter there was a huge increase in foreclosure activity. Subsequent investigators uncovered numerous instances involving mortgage fraud in the metropolitan New York area as well as the rest of the country. Unfortunately, very few individuals involved in mortgage fraud have actually been convicted of their activities. Mortgage fraud has a negative impact on the financial market, destroys the lives of families that are defrauded, and creates a lack of confidence among the general public with regard to the institutions involved in buying, selling and financing of real estate transactions.

NY Foreclosure Defense Attorney Elliot Schlissel

Elliot S. Schlissel is a foreclosure lawyer representing homeowners whose homes have been foreclosed, and foreclosure cases and helps homeowners obtain mortgage modifications.

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