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a loan modification to allow the homeowners to continue to reside in their homes and have the foreclosure proceedings withdrawn.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.
