Archives for October 2017
Penalizing Banks for Foreclosure Irregularities
October 27, 2017 by
Wells Fargo and Company, the fourth largest bank by assets in the United States, Bank of America, the largest lender in the United States and Citigroup the third largest
8lender in the United States expect to be sanctioned by the United States government for bad foreclosure practices.
These banks are accused by federal regulators of abusing borrowers and illegally foreclosing on homes. A federal probe has been underway for many months. Federal investigators have found widespread deficiencies in the manner in which home loans are serviced, payments are collected, how loan modifications are processed and the foreclosure process itself on loans.
Banks to Be Penalized
Wells Fargo, Bank of America and Citibank have all been accused of improper and illegal foreclosure practices. There have been reports that federal regulators may demand as much as thirty billion dollars from some 14 mortgage companies regarding improper foreclosure and mortgage practices.
Bank of America is responsible for the most mortgage loans in the United States. It handles 2.1 trillion dollars in home mortgages. Bank of America besides being investigated by federal regulators has been subject to a variety of private lawsuits concerning their mortgage foreclosure practices. Bank of America had temporarily suspended all foreclosure proceedings in 2010 to conduct a review and investigation of its foreclosure and mortgage practices. Bank of America has recently re-instituted foreclosure proceedings. They claim they have dealt with all of their internal problems concerning the processing of mortgages and handling of foreclosure.
Long Island Foreclosure Defense Lawyers
If your home is in foreclosure or you need a mortgage modification we can help you. The Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo have been assisting consumers and homeowners with problems concerning debts to financial institutions for more than two (2) decades. We prepare mortgage modification documents. We can help deal with mortgage modification programs that fail to meet the consumers needs. If you are in foreclosure, we will attend foreclosure court conferences on your behalf.
We litigate defective foreclosure lawsuits, predatory lending issues, defective mortgages, bad faith on behalf of financial institutions, and other related real estate proceedings.
In situations where we feel a filing of a Chapter 7 bankruptcy or Chapter 13 bankruptcy is appropriate we file these proceedings with the United States Bankruptcy Court on behalf of our clients. We also assist our clients in reestablishing credit after filing for bankruptcy. We can help stop foreclosure in its tracks. Call us for a free consultation at 1-800-344-6431, 516-561-6645 or 718-350-2802.
Long Island’s Economy Is Not Recovering
October 27, 2017 by
Real Estate Problems Create Continued Economic Problems on Long Island
More and more homeowners on Long Island are falling behind on their mortgages. Rising unemployment has forced more Long Island residents onto the welfare rolls. Long Island continues to lose jobs to other areas of the country.
The Recession on Long Island Continues
Although Nassau County is among the weathiest counties in the United States, its future does not look promising. At one time, Nassau County was a hub of National Defense related industries. Among these many industries was Grumman Corporation, which was the largest employer in Nassau County. With fewer and fewer jobs available, Nassau County now finds itself in financial difficulty.
With the loss of jobs, the devaluation of real estate, and newer companies hesitant to move to Long Island due to high taxes and expensive property values, the future for Nassau County looks bleak. Even beyond that, Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano has had the county’s finances taken over by the State appointed organization known as “NIFA” (Nassau Interim Finance Agency). What is a county such as Nassau County – considered a mature and economic county – to do about rising its prospects for the future? Innovative programs must be developed to bring new industries into the county, and tax breaks may be necessary to entice these industries.
When homes fall behind in their mortgages and are taken over by banks, they shouldn’t be sold. The continued selling of foreclosed homes results in creating an over supply of homes for sale on the real estate market, driving home prices down, and further creating losses for everyone. Instead, these homes should be rented to their former homeowners, who should be given the possibility of purchasing these homes down the road. The cost of maintaining the infrastructure of Nassau County needs to be reduced. Nassau County Police Officers are among the highest paid in the United States. A combination of their wages, pensions and fringe benefits are beyond what the county can afford to pay. Only aggressive action by the politicians and the business community can save Nassau County.
Long Island Foreclosure Defense Lawyers New York City Foreclosure Defense Lawyers
For those who are behind on their mortgage, a mortgage modification may be the best way to keep their home. Unfortunately, however, banks are approving fewer and fewer mortgage modifications. Should your home go into foreclosure, you need the best foreclosure defense lawyers to help you and your family stay in your home. The Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo has been providing legal assistance to homeowners and keeping them in their homes for more than 45 years. Our law firm represents clients concerning mortgage modifications, and deals with the problems involving mortgage modifications that fail to meet our clients needs. When our clients are sued in foreclosure, we submit the appropriate documents to the court in order to defend them. We attend court conferences regarding the foreclosure, and we try to persuade both the court and the bank attorneys to put pressure on the bank to approve mortgage modifications. We submit formal Answers to foreclosure lawsuits. When appropriate, we include in our answers legal defenses such as defective foreclosure lawsuits, predatory lending, defective mortgages and numerous other types of real estate related legal defenses.
Our law firm has extensive experience in dealing with the Federal laws and foreclosure. In some situations filing either a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy is the best route to deal with foreclosure and other financial issues. Filing a bankruptcy will stop foreclosures from moving forward, stop debt collection, and in some situations, eliminate second mortgages. At the end of the bankruptcy filing, we also advise our clients with regard to reestablishing their credit. There are many myths about bankruptcy that are simply not true. Call us for a free consultation. At this first meeting we will discuss your foreclosure and bankruptcy options and how we can keep you in your home. Thank you for visiting the Elliot S. Schlissel, Esq. foreclosure blog.
2012: A Banner Year For Foreclosures On Long Island
October 27, 2017 by
During 2012, in many villages on Long Island, there were more foreclosures than there were real estate sales. Areas where there were more foreclosures than real estate sales involve the towns of Freeport, Bellport, Inwood, Amityville and a variety of other towns on Long Island. Even without the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy, the real estate market was far from being healthy.
Home Sales Fall
In 2005 there were approximately 50,000 homes sold on Long Island. In 2012 there were only 22,000 home sales. The value of the homes sold in 2005 was approximately $30 billion, while the value of the real estate transactions in 2012 was only $13 billion dollars. There were approximately 6,200 foreclosed homes in 2005 while there were 14,000 in the year 2012.
Stagnant Real Estate Market
The real estate market on Long Island is not recovering. Experts refer to it as being “stagnant”. Maryann Garvin who heads the Community Development Corp of Long Island, a not for profit housing advocacy group, recently stated “you want a healthy housing market where you have movement…where people can sell their house and get a bigger house, or sell it and get a smaller house. It doesn’t feel like our market is that fluid.”
Investors Buying Homes
In some areas of Long Island, speculators are purchasing distressed homes. These speculators purchase the homes, do a minimum amount of repairs and either rent them or resell them for a profit. Investors are now becoming involved in the purchase of homes in water front communities which were badly damaged by Hurricane Sandy. In some of these situations the homeowners have decided not to repair their homes because of the fear there will be hurricanes in the future.
Unfortunately for the homeowners, the real estate market in many of these areas was further devastated by the extensive damage caused to many homes by Hurricane Sandy. The investors are buying these homes for rock bottom prices with the hope in a few years people won’t remember the problems caused by Sandy and they will make a significant profit on their investments.
Fighting Foreclosure Proceedings
Many homeowners, especially those in waterfront communities which were significantly damaged by Hurricane Sandy are no longer paying their mortgages. They hope to stay in their homes for as long as they can while hiring lawyers to fight their foreclosures proceedings.
Foreclosure Defense Lawyers
The Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo is one of the largest foreclosure defense law firms in the metropolitan New York area. Our firm has helped hundreds of families stay in their homes and fight off foreclosure proceedings. In some of our cases, families have not made mortgage payments for close to a decade and still reside in their homes. Our law office aggressively litigates issues concerning fraudulent mortgages, foreclosure fraud and predatory lending issues.
Long Island Mortgage Fraud Scheme
October 26, 2017 by
Two men from Long Island have been charged with running a $30 million mortgage fraud scheme. The case is pending in Federal Court in the Eastern District of New York located in Central Islip. The prosecutor on the case, Artie McConnell, in his closing statement to the jury stated these two “stole more money than a man with a mask and a gun ever could,” referring to the two men charged with the mortgage fraud. The two defendants in the case are Aaron Wider, who was the head HFTC Corp. in Garden City and Joseph Ferraro, Jr., who is from Long Beach.
The Scheme
Ferraro and Wider were involved in a scheme where homes were purchased and thereafter sold to a trust on the same day. The homes were then subject to an inflated appraisal and they were resold at much higher selling prices, sometimes as much as double. Thereafter Mr. Ferraro and Mr. Wider sold the “toxic mortgages” in the secondary mortgage market and kept the difference 
between the real and inflated values. This scheme took place between 2003 and 2008. Each home involved in the scheme ended up in foreclosure. In the end, the mortgage holders on these homes were high and dry.
Elliot S. Schlissel and his associates are foreclosure lawyers. They help homeowners who have fallen behind in their mortgages stay in their homes.
Notice to Admit in Foreclosure Action Improper
October 19, 2017 by
In a case before Justice Joan Lefkowitz sitting in the Supreme Court Real Property Part in Westchester County, US Bank made an application for summary judgment. This application was brought in the foreclosure lawsuit and it was opposed by the defendant, Glusky. Glusky took the position the bank failed to satisfy a condition precedent to initiation of a foreclosure case. Glusky claimed the bank failed to comply with the 90 day notice requirement under Real Property Action and Proceedings Law Section 1304. The failure of the bank’s compliance with this law denied the bank standing to bring the foreclosure lawsuit.
Justice Joan Lefkowitz had made a previous decision holding the bank had failed to establish prima facie entitlement to summary judgment. This was because they did not establish the bank was in compliance with the Section 1304 of the Real Property Action and Proceedings Law 90 day notice requirements. This statute requires the bank provide a homeowner with 90 day’s-notice prior to the initiation of a foreclosure lawsuit.
Bank Seeks To Get Around 90 Day Notice Statute
The bank’s attorneys had sent Glusky a notice to admit. He objected to the notice. He asked the court for an order striking the notice to admit. Glusky claimed the facts went to the heart of the case. Counsel for the bank argued against Glusky’s protective order. Justice Joan Lefkowitz found the notice to admit asked Glusky to admit to material issues which were in dispute in this case. Therefore, she found the notice to admit was improper. Glusky had appropriately rejected the bank’s claim. The Judge also found the fact that Glusky did not object to it in a timely manner is not relevant to the notice to admit being improper. Judge Lefkowitz rendered a decision which stated since the notice to admit was improper. Glusky simply did not need to respond. Judge Lefkowitz granted Glusky’s protective order striking the notice to admit.
Elliot S. Schlissel and his associates are foreclosure lawyers who have protected homeowners in foreclosure cases for more than 3 decades.
