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Elliot S. Schlissel is a foreclosure attorney representing homeowners throughout the Metropolitan New York area for more than 45 years. He can be reached for consultation at 516-561-6645, 718-350-2802 or by email to schlissel.law@att.net. The phones are monitored 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Ten million American families reside in homes worth less than the amount of the mortgages due on the homes. The large number of homes underwater in the United States still has a negative effect on the American economy. This is seven years after the great recession in the United States caused the collapse of the real estate market.
Although ten million Americans owe more on their property than their homes are worth, this is still an improvement from 2013.
Underwater Homes On Long Island
Long Island is fortunate that a smaller portion of the homeowners’ homes in Nassau and Suffolk Counties are underwater than the national average. Approximately 9% of the homeowners on Long Island, approximately 48,000 homes, are worth less than the amounts of their mortgages.
The actual figure of homes which are worth less than their mortgages on Long Island, is substantially higher. When taking into consideration the homeowners who have equity in their homes, it must be noted that for many of these homeowners, if they were to sell their homes, the proceeds from selling their homes would be too low to cover the costs and expenses involved in the sale of the home.
Fewer Homes Being Placed On The Market
The fact that homeowners can’t place their homes on the market and cover the expenses of paying the mortgage and the real estate transaction, is causing homeowners to keep their homes out of the marketplace. This has a negative impact on economic growth. A shortage of homes being listed in some areas has actually resulted in the homes which are on the market having inflated prices. This tends to prevent first time homeowners from coming into the marketplace due to their inability to meet the cost of these new homes.
Stan Humphries, the Chief Economist for Zillow, recently stated “the unfortunate reality is the housing markets look to be swimming with underwater borrowers for years to come.”
Hopefully the economy on Long Island and the rest of the United States will continue to improve which will raise the incomes of Americans and put more value into their homes.
Elliot S. Schlissel is a foreclosure lawyer. He defends foreclosure lawsuits brought by financial institutions against homeowners and assists homeowners in obtaining mortgage modifications.
Please click on the link below to watch today’s video blog:
Elliot S. Schlissel is a foreclosure defense attorney. He represents individuals and families throughout the Metropolitan New York area whose homes have gone into foreclosure. Elliot and his staff of lawyers take the appropriate legal action to keep families in their homes and avoid losing their homes in foreclosure proceedings. He can be reached for consultation at 516-561-6645, 718-350-2802 or by email to schlissel.law@att.net.
It is common for homeowners on occasion to fall a month or two behind in paying their mortgages. Banks will usually not take any action in these situations. However, if you should fall three or more months behind on your mortgage payments, the bank who holds your mortgage may refuse to accept your mortgage payments in the future unless you pay the total amount of the arrears you owe including late charges and penalties. This is called accelerating the mortgage.
Notices By Banks
Banks will usually provide you with a late notice when you don’t make your mortgage payments. They also may send a letter to you describing options you have with regard to mortgage modifications, deeds in lieu of foreclosure, and short sales.
Negotiations With Lenders
If you are behind on your mortgage, it is recommended you try to negotiate with your lender. Your lender may be willing to enter into a forbearance agreement with you. Forbearance agreements are sometimes given to homeowners when they become disabled or when they suffer a temporary loss of employment. The attorneys at the Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo have extensive experience in negotiating with lenders for alternative remedies to be utilized by banks instead of foreclosure proceedings.
If you have a continued inability to make your mortgage payments you may receive a notice of default correspondence from your financial institution. Eventually you will be sent a letter by your lender giving you 90 days notice prior to the start of a foreclosure lawsuit. If you haven’t hired an attorney by this time, it is strongly suggested you hire a foreclosure defense lawyer when you receive this correspondence. The purpose of this letter is to give you one last opportunity to bring your mortgage current by making all back payments before you get served with a foreclosure Summons and Complaint. The foreclosure lawsuit will not start for at least 90 days. This gives you several months to try to rectify the situation with your financial institution.
Foreclosure Lawsuits
After receiving the 90 day notice, the lender may not actually sue you in 90 days. The lender may take several more months to obtain the necessary documentation and paperwork before initiating the foreclosure proceeding.
Bankruptcies
In some situations, filing either a Chapter 7 bankruptcy or Chapter 13 bankruptcy can be helpful to deal with your financial difficulties which put you into foreclosure. The Chapter 7 bankruptcy will eliminate all of your debts including your mortgage obligation. In a Chapter 13 bankruptcy you can catch up on your arrears over a 5 year period while making your current mortgage payments. Unfortunately, if you couldn’t afford your mortgage payments to begin with the Chapter 13 bankruptcy won’t work for you.
Experienced Foreclosure Defense Lawyers
The attorneys at the Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo have helped numerous New Yorkers stay in their homes, fight foreclosures and obtain mortgage modifications. Should you fall behind on your mortgage, give us a call and we will set up a free consultation to set up a specific plan to protect you and your family from being forced from your home.
Please click on the link below to watch today’s video blog:
Elliot S. Schlissel is a foreclosure lawyer who has been representing homeowners for more than 45 years. His goal is to keep homeowners in their homes. He defends homeowners in foreclosure lawsuits and helps his clients in obtaining mortgage modifications. He and his associates can be reached for consultation at 516-561-6645, 718-350-2802 or by email to schlissel.law@att.net.
Pressuring Banks to Grant Mortgage Modifications
The negotiations that take place in the foreclosure settlement conference courtrooms, put pressure on the lending institutions to grant mortgage modifications to homeowners. At the first conference meeting, the attorneys for each of the parties introduce themselves and the court referee or magistrate handling the conferences take into consideration each of the parties’ desires to work out non-foreclosure alternatives through negotiations.
After the first foreclosure court conference takes place, the matter is usually adjourned for several months to allow the homeowners to submit a new mortgage modification package. At the adjourned date, the referee looks into whether all the requirements of the mortgage modification submission have been met and/or whether the financial institution seeks more information. This will usually require a second adjournment for several months. These settlement court conference appearances add a significant amount of time to the foreclosure process. Cases can be in the foreclosure conference part for as long as four months to a year.
If the foreclosure conferences do not result in a mortgage modification or other resolution of the underlying issues in the foreclosure case, the court will refer the case out to a regular court part where the litigation will continue.
Conclusion
Foreclosure court conferences give a homeowner another chance to obtain a mortgage modification. It also slows the court procedures down and allows the families who are not going to get mortgage modifications to remain in their homes for longer periods of time.
Governor Cuomo, a number of years ago, established foreclosure settlement conferences as a requirement for all foreclosure lawsuits in the State Of New York. An extremely important area in foreclosure defense involves an attorney representing the homeowner at foreclosure settlement conferences. At these conferences, there are meetings between the foreclosing institution’s attorneys, and the attorneys for the homeowner. These meetings are supervised by court appointed referees. It is the referee’s duties to see if he or she can get the parties together to work out a loan modification to allow the homeowners to continue to reside in their homes and have the foreclosure proceedings withdrawn.
Submission of Documents
Besides attending the foreclosure court conference, it is necessary for the homeowners to submit detailed mortgage modification packages through their counsel. The submission at the foreclosure court conference is different than the submissions made by homeowners outside of court supervision.
Complaints Regarding The Home Affordable Mortgage Program (HAMP)
There are numerous complaints with regard to the Home Affordable Mortgage Program (HAMP). Homeowners, rightfully so, complain the banks jerk them around, lose their documents, don’t respond to their communications and that the program simply doesn’t work.
One of the purposes of the mandatory foreclosure settlement conferences is to put pressure on the financial institutions to properly underwrite the mortgage modification applications and act in good faith. There are penalties potentially available for financial institutions who fail to act in good faith and properly underwrite mortgage modification applications submitted pursuant to the mandatory foreclosure conference parts.
