In the State of New York there is a requirement that all foreclosures involving residential property are subject to mandatory foreclosure settlement conferences. After the financial institution has served a 90 day notice on the homeowner, and a summons and complaint on the homeowner within 60 days thereafter the financial institution must file a Request for Judicial Intervention. The Request of Judicial Intervention, commonly referred to as an “RJI”, causes the court to schedule a mandatory foreclosure settlement conference. These conferences take place in every county in the State of New York. The mandatory foreclosure settlement conference will take place in the county in which the home is located.
The Purpose of the Settlement Conference
The foreclosure settlement conferences allow homeowners and their attorneys to meet with the financial institution’s lawyers for the purpose of working out possibly resolutions of the case other than the home being sold. The resolution most homeowners seek is to obtain a mortgage modification that is affordable. When the homeowner or their attorney appears at the mandatory foreclosure settlement conference there are discussions with regard to the submission of documents necessary for the financial institution to underwrite a mortgage modification. For the homeowner to be successful with regard to the mandatory foreclosure settlement conferences they must diligently comply with the document requests made by the financial institution’s lawyer.
These conferences can put pressure on the financial institution by the court to work out a resolution of the foreclosure case with the homeowner where the homeowner’s home is not sold at auction on the courthouse steps.
Supervision of the Settlement Coference
The mandatory foreclosure settlement conferences are supervised either by a court appointed referee or a judge. At the time of the first court conference if the homeowner seeks to submit for a mortgage modification, the conference will usually be adjourned for 2 to 3 months to give the homeowner reasonable time to submit the appropriate documents and to give the financial institution time to underwrite the documents that are submitted for the purpose of determining whether the homeowner qualifies for a mortgage modification. The attendance by the attorneys for the homeowner at these foreclosure conferences will continue to put pressure on the financial institution to provide the homeowner with a reasonable mortgage modification.
Missing the Conference
It is never a good idea for a homeowner or their attorney to miss foreclosure settlement conferences. The foreclosure settlement conference stops the foreclosure lawsuit from going forward and gives the homeowner an opportunity to seek an alternative to losing their home in a foreclosure sale. Although a homeowner can apply for a mortgage modification at any time during the litigation, the mandatory foreclosure settlement conferences are designed to allow the court to supervise the mortgage modification procedures. It is always in the homeowner’s interest to have the courts maintaining pressure on the financial institution to provide the homeowner with a mortgage modification.
Mandatory foreclosure conferences slow down the foreclosure lawsuit. There is a concept called “dual tracking”. This means while the homeowner is applying for a mortgage modification the financial institution cannot at the same time proceed with the litigation process to take back the homeowner’s home.
Elliot S. Schlissel, Esq., his partner Nathan DeCorpo, Esq. and his associates have a history of excellent results in helping homeowners obtain mortgage modifications. The firm can be reached for a free consultation at 800-344-6431 or e-mailed at Elliot@sdnylaw.com.
In a recent case the Attorney Generals for all 50 States in the United States and the District of Columbia reached a settlement with Wells Fargo Bank. The settlement involves a variety of consumer protection claims and unfair trade practices utilized by Wells Fargo Bank. The settlement was in the amount of $575,000,000.
Elliot S. Schlissel, Esq. is the managing partner of Schlissel DeCorpo LLP. Elliot is a 
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