Logo

contact us today

Nassau County: 516-561-6645 Suffolk County: 631-319-8262 Queens: 718-350-2802

free consultation

squarebtn

Archives for May 2011

Bad Neighbors Hurt the Value of Your Home

May 31, 2011 by

Bad Neighbors Hurt The Value Of Your HomeIf your neighbor is a slob, a sex offender or he maintains his property poorly, it can have a negative impact on the value of your home. Bad neighbors are individuals who lack the common courtesy, consideration and social values that are considered normal by the rest of the community. Business or governmental entities can also fall under the category of bad neighbors.

Neighbors Whose Homes are Foreclosed Upon

The largest single negative factor that drives down the value of single family homes is the foreclosure of other homes on the street. A study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has concluded that if neighbors homes are foreclosed on, it can bring the value of any home in the area down by as much as 27%. Federal Reserve Governor Joseph Tracy recently stated, “the growing inventory of the defaulted mortgages continues to weigh down any recovery in the housing market… problems in the housing market can impact on economic growth.”

Although homeowners don’t intentionally allow their homes to go into foreclosure, the fact that their homes are being taken back by the bank impacts on everyone in their locality. It is unfortunate that a family’s single largest investment can be negatively effected by other families in their area.

Conclusion

The foreclosure crisis hurts everyone in a community. It has a general impact on the home values of all homeowners in the surrounding area. It slows down economic growth, destroys equity and for the unfortunate families whose homes are foreclosed upon, it causes them to end up without a place to live.

Foreclosure Help

The Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo can help you with foreclosure issues. We can prepare mortgage modification applications and assist you with mortgage modification programs that fail to meet your needs. We litigate defective mortgages, defective foreclosure lawsuits, predatory lending and all other foreclosure and real estate related issues. We attend foreclosure court conferences for our clients. We draft and file foreclosure related bankruptcies. These bankruptcies can either be a Chapter 13 bankruptcy or Chapter 7 bankruptcy. At the end of the bankruptcies we assist our clients in re-establishing credit.

Our job is to stop foreclosures in their tracks. We have dozen of cases throughout the Metropolitan New York area pending and numerous satisfied clients. If you call us for a free consultation, we will meet with you at no charge and discuss your foreclosure options. Feel free to call us. We can help you! We look forward to seeing you again on our foreclosure blog.

Filed Under: Current Events, Foreclosure Defense, Mortgage Modification Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Leo Nordine, the Foreclosure King

May 27, 2011 by

Leo Nordine, The Foreclosure KingLeo Nordine of California has been referred to “the king of foreclosures.” Leo was a real estate agent in California. He has allegedly closed more than 4,000 real estate transactions. It is claimed that he is involved in over 300 real estate transactions a year. All of these transactions involve foreclosures!

Recent Interview of Leo Nordine

In a recent interview, foreclosure king Leo Nordine was asked about when the real estate market will bottom out. In his response, he stated that he felt the market had already hit a soft bottom. He talked about the slowdown by the Federal Government of the real estate foreclosure process. He claimed the government was slowing down the process to avoid putting the country into a depression.

He was asked if it was a good time for individuals to buy homes. He suggested that, instead of buying a home, individuals should save up their cash for a rainy day. He stated that he felt real estate prices will stay flat for approximately ten years. He suggested only buying a house if you plan on living in it and enjoying it. He suggested it would not be a good investment. He felt that for the real estate market to recover, the economy as a whole must first recovery.

Nation of Renters

Leo suggested that in the future a greater portion of the population of the United States will be renters, and not owners, of real estate. He claimed that the government had encouraged the American dream of the ownership of a single family home. He suggested that families should dream of renting in the future.

How To Sell a House Today

When Leo was questioned as to how to sell a home in the current real estate market, he suggested to make it as empty as possible. The house should be clean, bright and, most importantly, priced realistically! He stated that if the house isn’t priced to sell, no one will buy it!

New York Foreclosure Lawyer

If your home is in foreclosure in the Metropolitan New York area, we can help you. Our law office has been providing foreclosure defense for our clients for more than 45 years. We litigate defective mortgages, predatory lending and defective foreclosure lawsuits. We make court appearances for our clients and attend foreclosure court conferences. We assist our clients with mortgage modifications and mortgage modification programs that fail to meet consumers needs.

We discuss foreclosure related bankruptcy filings. This filing can either be a Chapter 7 bankruptcy or a Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Upon filing either of these bankruptcies, the Federal Bankruptcy Court issues an automatic stay that stops foreclosure proceedings in their tracks.

Call us for a free consultation. We will discuss all of your foreclosure options. Thank you for visiting our foreclosure blog.

Filed Under: Current Events, Foreclosure Defense, Mortgage Modification Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Home Ownership Now at 1998 Rates

May 24, 2011 by

Home Ownership Now At 1998 RatesThe percentage of Americans who own their own home has been slipping for many years. The percentage of Americans who live in their own home is now receded back to the rates that existed in 1998, according to recent census data. In the first quarter of 2011, home ownership in the United States slipped to 66.4%. This is on top of a reduction in the number of families who own homes in the fourth quarter of 2010 to 66.5%.

2005 Was The Apex of Home Ownership In the United States

In 2005, 69.1% of Americans owned their own home. The rate of home ownership in the United States has been steadily declining since 2005.

The American Dream

Owning a single family home has been the American dream during the 20th century. The Bush Administration and the Clinton Administration had policies to foster home ownership. Unfortunately, these policies were too generous and the American public manipulated these programs to create a real estate bubble in the United States. For the past three years, this real estate bubble has had a negative effect on the economy in the United States. The trend is starting to change in 2011 and hopefully in 2012, an election year, America will come out of it’s recession and real estate values will increase.

Foreclosure Defense Lawyer

We help clients whose homes are in foreclosure. We assist our clients with mortgage modification applications, as well as dealing with mortgage modification programs that fail to meet our clients needs. We have extensive experience in litigating all aspects of foreclosure proceedings, including, but not limited to, defective mortgages, defective foreclosure lawsuits, predatory lending, bad faith issues and foreclosure related real estate proceedings.

We attend foreclosure court conferences for our clients. We also provide clients with a list of foreclosure options. These options include foreclosure related bankruptcies such as Chapter 13 bankruptcy and Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Both of these bankruptcies immediately stop foreclosures from moving forward. If we file bankruptcy for our clients, we also can help them in re-establishing their credit at the end of the bankruptcy. Feel free to call us for a free consultation. We appreciate you spending time on our foreclosure blog.

Filed Under: Current Events, Foreclosure Defense, Mortgage Modification Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Proposed Law Protects Homeowners Who Have Mortgages

May 23, 2011 by

Homeowners Who Have MortgagesThere is currently a bill in the New York State Legislature to protect homeowner. The statute states that a bank or other financial institution cannot commence a foreclosure proceeding unless they have an original mortgage document. This means that a prerequisite for the financial institution to commence a foreclosure proceeding will be that it must allege and prove ownership of the note and the mortgage. These documents also must be filed by the bank, with the Summons and Complaint, when the foreclosure action is initiated.

Illegal Foreclosure Proceedings

There has been a series of cases in the past few years where banks who are not the mortgage holders have illegally foreclosed on homes and sold them at auction. This new law will codify the rulings of court cases that have held that institutions must have standing to initiate mortgage foreclosure proceedings.

When a homeowner receives the Summons and Complaint in foreclosure, they are usually frightened. Since homeowners are not lawyers and are generally not familiar with this area of the law, they do not know what their rights are. If a homeowner is sued by a bank that doesn’t own his or her mortgage, they have a right to claim that the bank doesn’t have standing to sue them. Unfortunately, if the homeowner doesn’t submit a written answer alleging lack of standing, this defense to the lawsuit is waived.

This new statute helps homeowners by making the homeowner’s defense that the bank has lack of standing to bring the foreclosure lawsuit non-waivable. This gives the homeowner a complete defense to the lawsuit. It also allows counsel for the homeowner to use this defense as a tactic in defending the foreclosure lawsuit.

Stopping Foreclosure

Foreclosures can be stopped in a number of ways. The filing of an Answer on behalf of the homeowner stops the foreclosure case from going forward. There are specific defenses that can be alleged in the answers, such as predatory lending, the mortgage was defective, the foreclosure lawsuit is defective, and other real estate related defenses. Another foreclosure defense option is to file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy or a Chapter 13 bankruptcy. The filing of either of these bankruptcies gives the homeowner an automatic stay that immediately stops the foreclosure lawsuit from going forward.

Many homeowners are under the false belief that filing for a mortgage modification stops a foreclosure from going forward. This is incorrect! The mortgage modification process has nothing to do with the litigation in the courts of foreclosures. Most mortgage modification programs fail to provide the homeowners with the relief they are seeking. The large majority of homeowners are denied mortgage modifications! Feel free to call us for a free consultation regarding foreclosure defense and bankruptcy matters. Thank you for visiting our foreclosure blog.

Filed Under: Current Events, Foreclosure Defense, Mortgage Modification Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Long Island’s Economic Problems

May 18, 2011 by

In 2010, Long Island’s economy grew slower then virtually all other areas in the state of New York. Buying power decreased in the year 2010.

Economic Growth In New York State is Uneven

The economic recovery is slowly affecting New York. Unfortunately, Nassau and Suffolk Counties on Long Island have the slowest rate of economic recovery of any region in New York.

Controller Thomas DiNapoli recently stated, “our economic recovery is headed in the right direction, but the road out of the recession is still winding and potentially periless.” The Gross Metropolitan Product on Long Island shrank 4.5% last year. This is the largest level of shrinkage in New York state. The second largest level of shrinkage took place in New York City, which was a 4.4% drop.

Wall Street Affects Long Island

The economic impact of the financial difficulties on Wall Street had a greater impact in Nassau and Suffolk Counties than other areas of the state. Erick Sumberg, an aid to New York State Controller Thomas DeNapoli, stated, “the economic recovery of many communities on Long Island is heavily dependent on the strength of Wall Street.”

Long Island Real Estate

For there to be a complete economic recovery on Long Island, there must be an upward trend in the value of real estate. The ownership of a single family home is the most significant asset for most families. When a family’s largest asset is under water (worth less the amount of the mortgage), it has a chilling effect on the prosperity of the region. Hopefully, as we move into the summer of 2011, the value of homes on Long Island will start to increase!

Long Island's Economic ProblemsForeclosure Defense

My law office has been handling foreclosure defense for Long Islanders and families within the Metropolitan New York area for more than 45 years. We litigate issues involving defective mortgages, defective foreclosure lawsuits, predatory lending and real estate related issues. We attend foreclosure court conferences on behalf of our clients and we seek to put pressure for the foreclosing banks to enter into mortgage modifications with our clients.

We represent our clients in filing Chapter 7 bankruptcies and Chapter 13 bankruptcies with regard to stopping their homes from being sold in foreclosure. We meet with our clients during the initial consultation and discuss the foreclosure options available, whether they need mortgage modifications, litigating the foreclosure lawsuits and foreclosure related bankruptcy proceedings. Feel free to contact us for a free consultation. Thank you for visiting my foreclosure blog.

Filed Under: Foreclosure Defense, Mortgage Modification, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Thinking of Walking Away From Your Foreclosed Home? It May Not be a Good Idea!

May 16, 2011 by

Thinking Of Walking Away From Your Foreclosed HomeOne of the options facing families whose homes are in foreclosure is to simply pack up and leave. This is what Willard and Holly Brown did with regard to their foreclosed home in Clarkston, Washington. However, things did not work out well for them. It cost them $116,000!

Home Secured Small Business Administration Loan

Willard and Holly Brown took out a $200,000 Small Business Administration loan. The loan was processed by Wells Fargo Bank and it was secured by a mortgage on their home.

Homestead Exemptions

Most states have homestead exemptions with regard to a homeowner’s principal place of residence. However, it usually only applies to a family’s principal place of residence. When the Browns moved away from their home, they cut off the utility services. They advised the water company to “permanently shut off the water to the home.” They rented an apartment in Florida. The apartment had a one year lease on it. They also changed their car registrations to Florida and obtained Florida driver’s licenses.

Surplus Funds from the Sale of Their Home

At the foreclosure sale of the Brown’s home, there was $116,377 received in excess of the amount of the mortgage. Under the homestead exemption in the state of Washington, these funds would have gone to the Browns.

Waiver of Homestead Exemption

Wells Fargo Bank claimed that the Browns abandoned their home and therefore forfeited their homestead exemption. The Browns litigated this issue. The Court of Appeals in Washington State held that a homeowner is presumed to have abandoned his or her homestead when they have vacated the property for a period of six months or longer. The Browns claimed they were on an extended vacation in Florida and that Wells Fargo, their bank, was wrong in claiming they had abandoned their home. Unfortunately for the Browns, the Court of Appeals didn’t buy their argument. The Browns lost $116,377. The moral of this story is, before abandoning your home, you should look into your rights under your state’s homestead exemption.

New York Foreclosure Lawyer

The Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo represents individuals throughout the Metropolitan New York area concerning foreclosure defense issues. We help our clients obtain mortgage modifications and we deal with mortgage modification programs that fail to meet our clients needs. We also litigate defective mortgages, defective foreclosure lawsuits, predatory lending issues and foreclosure related bankruptcy issues. We meet with our clients at the time of the initial consultation and advise them all of their foreclosure options. These options include litigating the foreclosure and pressuring the banks to enter into a mortgage modification, as well as Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcies. Call us for a free consultation. Thank you for visiting our foreclosure blog.

Filed Under: Current Events, Foreclosure Defense, Mortgage Modification Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Military Divorces Being Investigated by the Justice Department

May 10, 2011 by

Justice DepartmentThe Service Members Civil Relief Act prevents financial institutions from bringing foreclosure proceedings against individuals in the United States Armed Forces. The Justice Department is currently investigating allegations that a division of Morgan Stanley that handles mortgages improperly foreclosed on more than twenty-four military families between 2006 and 2008, in violation of the Service Members Civil Relief Act.

Service Members Civil Relief Act

Pursuant to the Service Members Civil Relief Act, a court must be convened and a Judge must hold a hearing before a foreclosure can be initiated. At the hearing, the member of the Armed Services can be represented by an attorney. The lender must obtain a court order to move forward with foreclosure proceedings.

Sargeant James B. Hurley

Sargeant Hurly was stationed in Iraq. In December of 2005, he returned to his home in Hartford, Michigan. What he found shocked him. His home had been foreclosed and sold to someone else. He brought a lawsuit against Sackson Mortgage Service, which is a sub-division of Morgan Stanley. He claimed that his home had been foreclosed and sold at auction in violation of the Civil Relief Act. Sackson eventually settled the case with him by paying him monetary damages in an undisclosed amount. There are currently approximately twenty-two other cases pending against Sackson. It is claimed in each of those cases that they improperly foreclosed on homes of individuals in active duty in the military service of the United States.

service1Foreclosure Help

Our law office helps individual whose homes are being foreclosed. We litigate foreclosure proceedings involving defective mortgages, defective foreclosure lawsuits, predatory lending and other real estate related issues. We attend foreclosure court conferences on behalf of our clients. We also represent clients in the preparation of mortgage modifications and we deal with mortgage modification programs that fail to meet our clients needs. We litigation foreclosure bankruptcy issues. We file either Chapter 7 bankruptcies or Chapter 13 bankruptcies on behalf of our clients when we feel this is an effective strategy to deal with their financial situation. We provide our clients with a thorough education as to what their foreclosure options are. Feel free to call us at your earliest convenience for a consultation. Thank you for reading our foreclosure blog.

Filed Under: Current Events, Foreclosure Defense, Mortgage Modification Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Rehabilitating Your Credit Score

May 9, 2011 by

creditMany Americans have fallen on hard times in the past few years. Loss of a job, being downsized, inability to make credit card and mortgage
payments and defaulting on personal loans have had negative effect on the credit standing of many Americans.

Credit scores generally run from 300 to 850. There are three major credit bureaus in the United States. They are Equifax, Experian and Transunion. Each of these credit bureaus have their own way of calculating credit scores. The following are a list of ways to help increase your credit scoring:

1. Consider adding a letter to your credit report explaining a
hardship that caused you to miss credit card payments. All three
credit bureaus allow consumers to add brief statements to their credit
reports.

2. Bring your credit card payments up to date. Bringing your credit
card payments up to date will have the most significant affirmative
impact on your credit score.

3. Obtain Secured Credit Cards
Secured credit cards can be used to rehabilitate your credit score. These cards require you to put a certain amount of money in a bank account, for
example, $500. This is used as collateral against the amount of
credit you receive on your card.

4. Join a Credit Union
Credit Unions are more lenient than other financial institutions in
offering credit cards and personal loans to their members.

5. Avoid Credit Card Repair Companies
Most credit card repair offers are scams. The claims made by these
companies are that they can straighten out your credit. They have no magic wand! Although there are some legitimate credit card repair companies, you don’t need to hire them. Just pay your bills on time and your credit
will over time repair itself.

Foreclosure Lawyer

Our law office provides foreclosure defense for our clients. We help
our clients with mortgage modifications and mortgage modification
programs that don’t work. We litigate defective mortgages, defective
foreclosure lawsuits, predatory lending, bad faith on behalf of
financial institutions and other real estate related matters. We
attend foreclosure court conferences for our clients and we utilize
these conferences to try to motivate the lenders to give our clients
mortgage modifications. We educate our clients as to the foreclosure
options available to them. In appropriate situations, we file
foreclosure related bankruptcies. These bankruptcies can be either a
Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy. These bankruptcies automatically
stop foreclosures from moving forward. In some circumstances,
bankruptcy can help eliminate second mortgages. Feel free to call us
for a free consultation. Thank you for reading my foreclosure blog.

Filed Under: Foreclosure Defense, Mortgage Modification, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Foreclosed Homes Zap the Strength Out of Our Economy

May 6, 2011 by

Banks and other financial institutions are in the loan business. They make loans based on the understanding that they will be repaid both the principal and interest. This is how they make a profit.

Foreclosures

Banks usually wait until a mortgage borrower is more than three months behind before initiating foreclosure proceedings. It is generally more profitable for a bank to resolve non-payment issue without resorting to foreclosure on the home. Lenders are in the money business, not the real estate business. They want to make loans and receive interest and principal payments on those loans. They don’t want to own real estate. When a bank takes possession of a home in foreclosure, their money is tied up in the foreclosed home.

Neglected Homes

Some of the homes taken back by financial institutions need major repairs and upgrades. Some of these homes have been empty for a considerable period of time and have been vandalized or neglected by the prior owners. Banks do not want to get involved in the repairing of homes they’ve taken ownership of in foreclosures.

Foreclosures in Depressed Market Prices

The recent increase is in the amount of foreclosure proceedings brought by financial institutions have further depressed the price of homes.

Price Reductions In Foreclosures

In neighborhoods with high foreclosure rates, the prices of all the homes in these neighborhoods are negatively affected. The sale of homes at bargain prices has a negative effect on the construction industry. Jobs are lost in the process. Suppliers of wood, steel and aluminum to the construction industry are losing jobs because of reduction in their business.

Foreclosure Help

We assist our clients in all aspects of foreclosure defense. We meet with our clients and provide our clients with foreclosure options. These options involve mortgage modifications, litigating defective mortgages, defective foreclosure lawsuits, predatory lending, bad faith and other real estate related issues.

We discuss foreclosure related bankruptcy filings. These can be either Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcies. The filing of these bankruptcies immediately stops the foreclosure from moving forward. We also assist our clients in re-establishing credit and, in some circumstances, we can eliminate second mortgages by filing bankruptcies. Call us for a free consultation. Thank you for reading my foreclosure blog.

Filed Under: Current Events, Foreclosure Defense, Mortgage Modification Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Foreclosures Increase Economic Stress in the United States

May 5, 2011 by

In December of 2010, the economic stress in the United States increased. This was largely due to the depressed housing market. Foreclosure rates rose in thirty-three states during December. In addition, bankruptcy levels remained very high.

Social Security Rates Go Down

During the 2011 calendar year, the tax rate for social security taxes was reduced. This results in workers’ paychecks going up.

Manufacturers Are Adding Jobs

In the United States, manufacturers, after many years of having shrinking payrolls, plan on hiring more employees in the year 2011. In January of 2011, the manufacturing sector of the United States economy added approximately 50,000 jobs. This was the largest increase since August of 1998.

Unemployment Rates Go Down

The unemployment rates have been slowly decreasing in the United States for the past two months. The unemployment rate was 9.8% in November of 2010 and fell to 9% in January of 2011.

Bankruptcies and Foreclosures Increase

Rajeev Dahawan, an economist at Georgia State University, stated, “bankruptcies and foreclosures are the side effects of the damage from the real estate bust. First you have the real estate problem and then it spills over into bankruptcies and foreclosures.”

Bankruptcy

Bankruptcies generally increase during times of economic stress. In November of 2005, the Bankruptcy Reform Act led to more stringent standards for filing a bankruptcy. A “means test” was a mandatory part of the Bankruptcy Reform Act. Since November of 2005, the rules regarding filing Chapter 7 bankruptcies have been liberalized; however, the means test standard still applies on all new Chapter 7 bankruptcy filings.

Bankruptcy Lawyer

Our law office files Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcies on behalf of our clients. These bankruptcies will stop foreclosures from moving forward and, in some circumstances, eliminate second mortgages. In addition to filing bankruptcies, we educate our clients on how to re-establish credit after bankruptcies are filed.

Our law office provides comprehensive foreclosure defense legal services. We assist our clients in applying for mortgage modifications and deal with mortgage modification programs that fail to meet our clients’ needs. We litigate defective mortgages, predatory lending, defective foreclosure lawsuits, bad faith on behalf of financial institutions and all other real estate related matters. During the course of foreclosure litigation, we attend foreclosure court conferences on behalf of our clients and try to motivate the financial institutions to give our clients mortgage loan modifications. Feel free to call us at 1-800-344-6431, 516-561-6645 or 718-350-2802 to discuss your legal needs. Thank you for reading our foreclosure blog.

Filed Under: Current Events, Foreclosure Defense, Mortgage Modification, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Foreclosure Defense in Valley Stream, Lynbrook, Baldwin, Malverne, Freeport, Oceanside, Long Beach, Elmont, Lakeview, West Hempstead, Hempstead, Merrick and Bellmore, New York

LINKS

OUR WEBSITES

Latest Blogs

Foreclosure Strategies

May 10 2018

The best way to deal with a foreclosure is to take aggressive legal action when the foreclosure laws... [Read More...]

Foreclosure And Your Credit Score

Jul 1 2015

The initiation of a foreclosure lawsuit by a financial institution against you will have a negative ... [Read More...]

CONTACT INFO

Attorney Elliot S. Schlissel

479 Merrick Road
Lynbrook, NY 11563 Nassau phone: 516-561-6645
Suffolk phone: 631-319-8262
Queens phone: 718-350-2802
Fax: 516-561-6716
Toll Free: 1-800-344-6431
Email Us | Map/Directions

We represent individuals throughout the New York Metropolitan area with divorce and child custody, personal injury, car accident, wrongful death, estate administration, nursing home and medicaid issues

The information you obtain at this website is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. You should consult an attorney for individual advice regarding your particular legal issue. This is attorney advertising.

This is attorney advertising. This website is designed for general information purposes only. The information presented on this website shall not be construed to be legal advice. If you have a legal problem you should consult with an attorney.

Copyright © 2018 By The Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo. All Rights Reserved.

Disclaimer: The information you obtain at this website is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. You should consult an attorney for individual advice regarding your particular legal issue. This is attorney advertising.