Elliot S. Schlissel

Practical Applications of Foreclosure Abuse and Prevention Act

July 31, 2026 by Elliot S. Schlissel

The Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act (“FAPA”) deals with a common practice of financial institutions in the past. Financial institutions would start foreclosure lawsuits and then when it was in their advantage they would discontinue or stop the lawsuit. However, under the new statute when a financial institution starts a foreclosure lawsuit they can no longer voluntarily stop it by discontinuing the lawsuit.

Inappropriate Litigation Conducted by Banks

Financial institutions have in the past engaged in inappropriate litigation conduct. FAPA was designed to prevent financial institutions from starting foreclosure lawsuits and then deciding they did not want to move forward for a strategic reason and discontinuing the case.

The 6 Year Statute of Limitations

Financial institutions sought to get around the 6 year Statute of Limitations. In the State of New York a mortgage foreclosure lawsuit must be initiated within 6 years of either the date of maturity of the loan, the date the loan is accelerated or the date a foreclosure lawsuit is filed. Under FAPA if a financial institution voluntarily stops a lawsuit moving forward by filing a discontinuance, it does not reset the Statute of Limitations. The Statute of Limitations of 6 years runs under this new Statute, it runs from the initial filing of the foreclosure. If a subsequent or second foreclosure is brought more than 6 years from the prior one, it can be dismissed.

Legislative Intent of New York Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act (“FAPA”)

The New York Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act (‘FAPA”) applies retroactively. This means law applies to foreclosure cases that have been initiated prior to FAPA being past in the end of 2022.

FAPA Held to be Valid by New York’s Highest Court

The New York State Court of Appeals, the State’s highest Court has confirmed in more than one case that FAPA applies retroactively to pending foreclosure actions. These cases in the New York State Court of Appeals affirmed that FAPA does not violate the New York State Constitution, due process or other contractual clauses. In these cases the highest court rejected arguments that the retroactive nature of the Statute violates due process or Federal Contract Rights. The Statute prevents lenders from unilaterally stopping or revoking their prior acceleration of a loan for the sole purpose of resetting the 6 year Statute of Limitations. As a result of these cases, thousands of old pending foreclosures were now capable of being dismissed.

The law firm of Schlissel DeCorpo LLP has been helping families deal with mortgage and foreclosure problems for more than 30 years. We can be reached at 718-350-2802, 516-561-6645 or 631-319-8262 or by e-mail at info@sdnylaw.com.

Filed Under: Foreclosure Tagged With: Practical Applications of Foreclosure Abuse and Prevention Act

The Note and Mortgage

June 11, 2026 by Elliot S. Schlissel

If the homeowner seeks to borrow money to buy a home or refinance a home, they will apply to a financial institution to obtain these funds. A note is an agreement between the homeowner and lender creating a personal obligation to repay the financial institution back the money that is borrowed. The note will include various terms, interest rates, payment schedules and the information involving late charges and other issues.

The Mortgage

The mortgage is a separate and distinct contract from the note. The mortgage gives the financial institution a security interest in the homeowner’s home. The homeowner is pledging their home as collateral for the loan. The mortgage will often contain terms stating what the lender can do if the terms of the note and mortgage are not met by the homeowner. Those terms include initiating a foreclosure lawsuit seeking to sell the homeowner’s home at an auction sale at the end of the case.

Closing

There is often a sit down closing when a homeowner buys a home and takes out a mortgage. At the closing the homeowner will appear with their lawyer, sellers will appear with their attorney and the financial institution will have their attorneys handling the execution of the loan, the note and mortgage documents. At the end of the closing the buyer pays the seller and takes title to the home. There will be a title closer representing the title company at the closing. The title closer will pick up the transfer documents and make sure the transaction is filed and recorded with the proper authorities.

Filed Under: Mortgages Tagged With: The Note and Mortgage

Foreclosure Strategies

June 4, 2026 by Elliot S. Schlissel

The ownership of a single-family home is often referred to as the American Dream. The home will usually be a family’s largest asset. In a foreclosure lawsuit homeowners are in serious risk of losing their largest asset, and being forced into finding another place to live. No matter how many payments the homeowner has missed, there are solutions to the homeowner’s problem other than losing their home in a foreclosure lawsuit. Homeowners have rights in the State of New York. Retaining of a foreclosure lawyer is often the best first step if the homeowner wishes to save their home.

Foreclosure defense attorneys can advise the homeowners of various strategies and methods to save their home. There are legal strategies that exist in the State of New York to stop foreclosures from going forward and saving homes.

Options to Avoid Foreclosure Sales

Homeowners can apply for a loan modification. They can bring an action to dismiss the foreclosure. They can enter into short sales. They can execute deeds in lieu of foreclosure. They can file Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcies in Federal Courts.

Bank Mistakes

In some situations banks or their employees have made mistakes, engaged in unethical activities, have been involved in robo signing of documents or they lack standing to actually bring the foreclosure case. Standing refers to whether the bank bringing the foreclosure action actually is the appropriate party to engage in the foreclosure process against the homeowner.

Filed Under: Foreclosure Tagged With: Foreclosure Strategies

PRE-FORECLOSURE NOTICE

February 12, 2026 by Elliot S. Schlissel

New York has a specific statute that requires a lender to provide 90 days notice to a homeowner before they initiate a foreclosure lawsuit. The failure of the lender to provide the 90 days notice can in the answer to the foreclosure lawsuit provide a defense to the foreclosure lawsuit. In the event you have a defense such as a failure to serve a pre-foreclosure notice or the statute of limitations, which talks about the time period the lender has to initiate the lawsuit, these defenses must be specifically plead in the answer to the Summons and Complaint. To protect yourself, it is highly recommended that you contact a law firm that handles foreclosure defense to draft the answer for you and take the appropriate legal action in the Supreme Court to protect your rights and possibly get the lawsuit dismissed.

Time to Answer

Under New York State law if served with a Summons and Complaint, you have 20 days to submit a written response to the Summons and Complaint, which is called an Answer, if the Summons and Complaint is personally handed to you by a process server. If you receive the Summons and Complaint that is dropped off at your home or sent to you by another means, you have 30 days from the time of service to respond to the Summons and Complaint. If you do not provide a written response to the Court and the bank’s attorney within the appropriate time limitation, you have defaulted in the foreclosure lawsuit. A default is an indication that you are not contesting the lawsuit which is designed to sell your home and cause you to be evicted. This is always a mistake!

Filed Under: Foreclosure Tagged With: Pre-Foreclosure Notice

Why Hire a Foreclosure Defense Lawyer

February 4, 2026 by Elliot S. Schlissel

Attorneys who deal with foreclosures on a regular basis can develop an expertise in dealing with the financial institutions, their servicing companies and the bank lawyers. Attorneys who have extensive experience in foreclosure defense can provide advise and provide legal assistance in obtaining a mortgage modification or other types of relief from a foreclosure.

Due Diligence

Before hiring a law firm to handle a foreclosure defense for your family, it is important that you look at their website. Investigate whether the attorneys have published articles on various foreclosure defenses and/or previous cases that they have been successful in defending foreclosures on.

A foreclosure defense attorney with extensive experience in handling foreclosures will understand how to defeat the bank where defenses are available. Foreclosure litigation, negotiations with financial institutions, the servicing company and the attorneys for the financial institutions can help homeowners save their homes.

Your Home

The ownership of a single-family home is the consummation of an American dream. A family’s home is usually their most important asset. It should be protected from financial institutions that seek to take the home back from the homeowners. Moving quickly to deal with mortgage problems is the best way to avoid a family losing their home.

Filed Under: Foreclosure Defense Tagged With: WHY HIRE A FORECLOSURE DEFENSE LAWYER

TYING THE FORECLOSURE LAWSUIT UP IN COURT

January 29, 2026 by Elliot S. Schlissel

A sophisticated foreclosure lawyer can often tie a foreclosure lawsuit up in court any where from 2 to 3 years. This can give the homeowners the ability to obtain a new job or jobs if they are unemployed, organize their finances, work out mortgage modifications and get their home foreclosure issue straightened out.

Mortgage Modifications

Mortgage loan modifications take time to work out. If you are already behind on your mortgage, you will fall further behind during the process of obtaining a mortgage modification. A foreclosure attorney can tie up your case in Court to give you the time to obtain a mortgage modification before you lose your home.

Selling Your Home In Foreclosure

Many people do not understand that you can sell your home even if it is in foreclosure. The sale of a home in foreclosure may be a bit more complicated than a sale when a home is not in foreclosure, but the home is still saleable. Selling the home will allow the homeowner to pay the bank off and reap the benefits of the increase in value of the home. In addition the homeowner gets to keep the balance of the equity paid at the time of closing after paying off the mortgage. These sums can be utilized to purchase another home in the future.

Selling the home is only one option a homeowner has when their home is in foreclosure. There are many other options available. A consultation with a New York foreclosure defense attorney will be the best way to determine how the homeowner should deal with their situation involving the foreclosure on their home.

Filed Under: Foreclosure Tagged With: Tying The Foreclosure Lawsuit Up In Court

CHAPTER 13 BANKRUPTCY

January 13, 2026 by Elliot S. Schlissel

A Chapter 13 Bankruptcy formerly known as “a wage earner’s plan” is a reorganization of the homeowner’s finances for a period up to 5 years. This reorganization of the finances is under the supervision of a Federal Trustee. A bankruptcy attorney can help a homeowner figure out which type of bankruptcy works best for the homeowner. A Chapter 13 Bankruptcy will give a homeowner up to 5 years to get their mortgage current. The filing of a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy which will bring it to fruition to get the mortgage current is a complicated series of transaction.

Bankruptcy Attorney

A bankruptcy attorney that handles foreclosures is usually the best solution to a homeowner who seeks to reorganize their finances and get their mortgage current. Your home is your most valuable asset. A homeowner should do everything in their power not to lose their home. Bankruptcy is not a dirty word. It is the utilization of a federal program to bring a mortgage current.

Credit Issues

Many homeowners believe that a bankruptcy will prevent them from ever having good credit. The opposite is true. The bankruptcy will eliminate the problem and allow the homeowner to recover their credit. Homeowners can file a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy to set up a 60 month plan to bring their mortgage current. While the bankruptcy is pending the foreclosure cannot move forward. This allows homeowners to sleep at night and not worry about losing their home.

Filed Under: Bankruptcy Tagged With: Chapter 13 bankruptcy

THE MORTGAGE

December 23, 2025 by Elliot S. Schlissel

When homeowners buy a home, they usually have to obtain funds from a financial institution to consummate the transaction. The financial institution loans the homeowners money and takes out a mortgage on the home. The homeowners must sign a promissory note and that is secured by a lien on the house and the lien on the house is called a mortgage. A promissory note is a legal obligation for the homeowner to pay the debt.

The Mortgage Lien

A promissory note is an unsecured debt. However, the lien created by the mortgage on the home makes the note secured by the home. The mortgage gives the financial institution a security interest in the property. If the homeowner fails to pay the mortgage on a timely basis, the financial institution brings a foreclosure lawsuit to sell the home so they can be paid.

Foreclosure Defense Solution

There are many things that can be done to avoid a home going into foreclosure. Forbearance agreements, mortgage modifications and refinancing are some possible solutions for homeowners’ financial situations that caused them to fall behind on their mortgage payments. In addition, a homeowner can also go into a Federal Bankruptcy Court to file a bankruptcy. This stops the foreclosure from moving forward in New York State Supreme Court.

Filed Under: Mortgages Tagged With: THE MORTGAGE

SALE OF A HOME IN FORECLOSURE

November 18, 2025 by Elliot S. Schlissel

A foreclosure lawsuit is initiated by the attorneys for the lender by filing a Summons and Complaint in the County Clerk’s office of the county where the home is located. Thereafter the Summons and Complaint is served on the homeowners by a process server. The end of a foreclosure lawsuit is the sale of the homeowner’s home. The sale is an auction sale where anyone can come and bid as long as they have at least a third of the money up front and the rest within a few days.

The Home Is Under Water

There are cases where the foreclosure sale will not provide enough money to repay the mortgage loan. This is a situation where the home is called said to be Under Water. Under water means that the home is worth less than the amount that is owed on it. In these situations, the bank can move for a deficiency judgment against the homeowner. Here is an example of that situation: The homeowner owes $850,000. The home is sold for $750,000 at the foreclosure sale. There is now a deficiency of $100,000. The homeowner still owes the bank the $100,000. This means the homeowner can lose their home and still owe the bank a lot of money. Filing a bankruptcy can stop the foreclosure sale and in certain circumstances eliminate deficiency judgments against the homeowner.

After the Sale

After a home is sold at a foreclosure sale the new owners need to notify the homeowners of the details of the sale. Then the new owners start to take action to have the prior homeowners removed from the house. Unfortunately, the loss of a family’s home is a very unpleasant experience.

Filed Under: Foreclosure Tagged With: SALE OF A HOME IN FORECLOSURE

FORECLOSURE IN NEW YORK

November 3, 2025 by Elliot S. Schlissel

In New York a foreclosure is a court supervised process. A lender retains an attorney and files a lawsuit to enforce the lender’s right to take the home back for failure of the homeowner to fulfill their requirements of making payments under the mortgage. Prior to initiating the foreclosure lawsuit the lender must give the homeowner a ninety (90) day pre-foreclosure notice. The purpose of this notice is to inform the homeowners that they are in default under the terms of their mortgage. This notice also provides the homeowners with information regarding how they can receive help to deal with the foreclosure process.

The Filing of the Lawsuit

The lender’s attorneys draft a Summons and Complaint and file it in the County Clerk’s Office of the County in which the home is located. Upon making this filing the attorneys for the financial institution obtains an Index Number which is the tracking number that the case goes through the Courts with.

Service of the Summons and Complaint

After the filing of the Summons and Complaint with the County Clerk’s Office, the attorneys for the financial institution hire a process server who then serves the Summons and Complaint on the homeowner.

Mandatory Settlement Conference

The first step in the legal process is a mandatory settlement conference which allows the homeowner and the attorneys for the lender to discuss solutions to the homeowner’s default in paying their mortgage. This usually involves a discussion of a mortgage modification.

Motion Practice

If the homeowner does not respond in writing to the lawsuit by submitting a written answer or attend the mandatory settlement conference, the lender may move by motion for a default. A default judgment is an indication that the homeowners have taken no legal action to defend themselves in the lawsuit.

Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale

If the bank’s attorneys are successful in either obtaining a default judgment on winning a Summary Judgment, the lender’s attorneys will then move for a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale. This Judgment appoints a Referee to sell the homeowner’s home at a foreclosure sale.

Foreclosure Sale

A foreclosure sale is an auction sale. The Referee appointed by the Court schedules it and prospective purchasers bid on purchasing the home. The home is purchased for cash at the sale.

Referee’s Deed

After the foreclosure auction sale takes place, the Referee prepares a deed giving the winning bidder legal title to the home.

Filed Under: Foreclosure Tagged With: FORECLOSURE IN NEW YORK