90 Day Foreclosure Notice

90 Day Foreclosure NoticeMr. Yapkowitz and his wife both defaulted on making mortgage loan payments. At that time the servicing company handling the loan payments sent them a 30 day notice of default. This took place on January 22, 2009. In February 2010, the were notified the loan servicing was transferred went to NationStar Mortgage LLC. The mortgage was then assigned to Wells Fargo Bank in April of 2013. There was a denial of a motion for Summary Judgment (to obtain a judgment of foreclosure and sale without needing to go for trial) in July of 2018. An issue was raised by the decision of the Supreme Court with regard to whether each of the homeowner’s must receive a 90 day notice separately from the other borrower.

The Law In New York

New York Real Property Actions and Proceeding Law Section 1304 requires the mailing of a 90 pre-foreclosure notice to the individuals facing foreclosure. In this case the notice to the individuals was jointly addressed to them.

The appeals court affirmed a judgment in the homeowners favor dismissing Wells Fargo’s foreclosure lawsuit. The Appeals Court in the Second Department ruled to strictly comply with real property actions and proceedings law section 1304 in a foreclosure lawsuit plaintiff must mail a 90 day notice addressed to each borrower in separate envelopes as a precondition to commencing the foreclosure case. Wells Fargo, in this case, had jointly addressed the borrowers with a 90 day notice. This did not comply with the statute and this was the reason for the dismissal of the case.

Conclusion

All of the terms of New York Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law Section 1304 regarding pre-foreclosure notice to the homeowner’s must be strictly complied with. If the statute is not strictly complied with, the foreclosure lawsuit can be dismissed.

schlissel-headshotElliot S. Schlissel is a foreclosure defenses lawyer who has been helping homeowners form more than 3 decades. He can be reached at elliot@sdnylaw.com or 516-561-6645, 718-350-2802, 631-319-8262.

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Happy New Year 2020

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To a joyful present and a well-remembered past. Best wishes for happy holidays and a magnificent new year.

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Penalizing Banks for Foreclosure Irregularities

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

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 20 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

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.

Court Enforces Mortgage Modification Agreement

foreclosure assistance for long island homeownersIn the case of Brown v. Nationstar Mortgage reported in the New York Law Journal on June 26, 2015, Brown had brought a lawsuit seeking to enjoin the enforcement of a judgment of foreclosure which resulted in the sale of his home. In addition, he sought to stop a proceeding which attempted to remove him from his home after the foreclosure sale had taken place. His lawsuit requested the court rescind the sale of his property and find a mortgage modification agreement he had previously entered into with Nationstar Bank was effective and enforceable.

The court found the only issue which needed to be dealt with, because all of the other relief requested by Brown had previously been litigated, was whether the mortgage modification agreement should be enforceable.

Justice Daniel Barrett found Brown had reasonable notice of the foreclosure proceedings. He stated, however, he was “perplexed by the inactivity concerning this matter.” Mr. Brown had testified he had received a letter from the respondent offering him a mortgage modification. The letter required he sign a mortgage modification agreement and agree to make a payment for the agreement to become effective. He testified that he complied with all of the requirements the bank had requested. In spite of entering into a valid mortgage modification agreement with the bank, a foreclosure sale was conducted and Nationstar Mortgage bought the property. They thereafter served Brown with a 90 day notice to remove himself from the premises.

Mortgage Modification Agreement is Valid and Mortgage Set Aside

Justice Barrett ruled there was a valid mortgage modification agreement because Brown had complied with all of the required terms of the agreement. He then sought to place the parties in the position they would occupy if the agreement was performed pursuant to all of its terms. The judge therefore directed both parties continue to perform under the terms of the agreement and, in addition, there be a two year interest free period.

Conclusion

The entering into of a mortgage modification agreement does not stop lawsuits from moving forward. Banks usually hold the lawsuits in abeyance to see if the terms of the mortgage modification agreement are complied with. However, sometimes the outside counsel representing banks in foreclosure lawsuits have no idea the banks are entering into a mortgage modification agreement. They therefore continue with the foreclosure process which can result in the sale of the home and eviction of the family that lives in the home. To make sure the attorneys representing the bank in the foreclosure proceedings are aware of what is going on between the bank and the homeowner, it is important to provide documentation to the attorneys for the bank with regard to the existence of the mortgage modification being underwritten and being accepted.New York foreclosure defense lawyer

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