To watch today’s video blog, please click on the following link:
Elliot S. Schlissel is a foreclosure defense attorney. He can be reached by telephone at 516-561-6645 or 718-350-2802, or by email to schlissel.law@att.net.
New Mortgage Laws in New York State
September 26, 2014 by
Please watch today’s video blog by clicking on the following link to learn about the new mortgage laws in effect in New York State:
Elliot S. Schlissel is a foreclosure defense lawyer. He can be reached at 1-800-344-6431 or by email at schlissel.law@att.net.
Lack of Standing Must Be Plead As An Affirmative Defense
September 22, 2014 by
Please view today’s blog article regarding pleading defenses in a foreclosure action by clicking on the following link:
Elliot S. Schlissel is a foreclosure defense lawyer. He can be reached at 1-800-344-6431 or by email at schlissel.law@att.net.
How To Spot Bank Fraud – Part II
September 12, 2014 by
The Notarization of the Assignment Document
The assignment document needs to be notarized. The first thing you should check is if the date of the notarization is the same date as the date the person with the power of attorney, or the alleged officer of the financial institution executed the assignment. The second item you should look for is whether the notarization is from a notary in the same state as the individual who executed the assignment on the date of its execution. The notarization should have taken place on the same day and at the same location as the signature of the person making the assignment for the financial institution.
Is The Bank Still in Business?
During the past ten years, numerous mortgage companies, financial institutions and banks have gone bankrupt, have been dissolved, have merged and/or have been acquired by other financial institutions. If the bank or financial institution no longer exists, how could an employee of an institution that no longer exists execute an assignment? In these cases there is usually some sort of fraud which took place.
If the financial institution indicates there was a document attached to the note or affixed to the note, check to see if there are staple marks. If no staple marks exist on the document it is either not the original document or there was nothing actually attached to the document. If the financial institution is claiming the note is lost, check to see there has been an affidavit submitted explaining in detail the circumstances and events related to the loss of the original note. Be careful to make sure the person signing the affidavit actually was in a position to have personal knowledge about the loss of the note.
Elliot Schlissel is foreclosure defense lawyer. He has helped scores of New Yorkers fight foreclosure lawsuits and stay in their homes.
Bank Failed to Follow Notice Requirements
September 10, 2014 by
Please view today’s blog video at the following link:
Elliot S. Schlissel is a foreclosure defense attorney. He can be reached at 1-800-344-6431 or by email at schlissel.law@att.net.
How To Spot Bank Fraud – Part I
September 4, 2014 by
The purpose of this article is to acquaint homeowners with spotting obvious bank fraud related to foreclosure lawsuits. In a case where there is a mortgage on a home, it is necessary for the bank to prove to the court that as of the date of the initiation of the foreclosure lawsuit it was in possession of the original note and mortgage. In addition, the bank must be able to prove to the court that as of the date of the initiation of the foreclosure lawsuit it owned the mortgage.
Checking to See If An Assignment is Valid
The following is a list of ways of investigating whether the assignment to the bank which has initiated the foreclosure lawsuit against you was in conformity to New York State law.
The first thing you should do is look at the signatures on the assignment document. Next to the signature should be the date of the assignment. Check to see the date of the assignment was earlier in time than the date the bank initiated the foreclosure lawsuit. The date on the top of the assignment document should not be different from the date it was executed at the bottom of the document.
Check to see if the person executing the assignment has executed it as “attorney in fact.” This means the person executing the assignment was executing it under power of attorney. In that case there should be a power of attorney related to this assignment. The bank should be able to produce the power of attorney so you can ascertain as to whether the person who executed as attorney in fact actually had power of attorney on the date he or she executed the document. If the person with the power of attorney was not an employee of the financial institution which was the holder of the assignment he or she may not have had the appropriate authority to execute the assignment.
Defense to Foreclosure Lawsuit: Statute of Limitations
August 22, 2014 by
There is a statute of limitations in every state of the United States with regard to bringing a foreclosure lawsuit. If the financial institution which holds your mortgage does not initiate the foreclosure lawsuit within the statute of limitations period, a defense can be raised in your answer to the summons and complaint that the lawsuit is barred by the statute of limitations. The statute of limitations in the State of New York to bring a foreclosure lawsuit is six years.
Calculating Time Periods for the Statute of Limitations
The usual start of the running of the six year time period under the statute of limitations, in the State of New York, is from the time the homeowner made their last mortgage payment. For example, if the homeowner’s last mortgage payment was made January 1, 2010, the statute of limitations defense could be utilized by the homeowner if the foreclosure lawsuit was not initiated on or before January 1, 2016.
Statute of Limitations: An Affirmative Defense
Affirmative defenses are specific defenses to lawsuits which need to be plead in the pleadings of a responding party. In a foreclosure lawsuit, the homeowner must plead the statute of limitations and other affirmative defenses in their written answer which is submitted to the court and to opposing counsel. Failure to plead a statute of limitations defense or other affirmative defense in an answer acts as a waiver of that defense. Over the years I have had prospective clients who have come into my office and said to me things such as, the foreclosure lawsuit was illegal because it was initiated more than six years from the time they stopped making their mortgage payments. This is not true. As indicated earlier in this paragraph, the statue of limitations defense must be plead as an affirmative defense in an answer to the summons and complaint or else it is waived. Unfortunately in some of the situations clients have brought this up to me in, they had waived their right to submit the affirmative defense of statute of limitations.
Once the financial institution starts the lawsuit, the issue of the statute of limitations as a defense is no longer applicable. So if the foreclosure lawsuit is started four years after the date of default and it goes on for five years, there is no statute of limitations defense available. Once the lawsuit is started, it does not make any difference however long it takes to be finalized or resolved. The statute of limitations only applies to the first six year period.
Conclusion
If you think you have a statute of limitations defense, it is strongly suggested you contact an experienced foreclosure defense lawyer and discuss this issue with him or her and the best way to present it in your pleadings.
Citigroup Pays $7 Billion Regarding Improper Mortgage Practices
August 8, 2014 by
Citigroup recently settled with the Justice Department a lawsuit with regard to its being involved with fraudulent practices concerning residential mortgages. As part of the settlement, Citigroup will be expending more than $7 billion.
Citigroup
Citigroup is required under the settlement with the Justice Department to modify mortgages of financially troubled homeowners. However, due to the numerous problems Citigroup has had with regard to financing residential mortgages, they do not have sufficient existing mortgages to satisfy a $7 billion settlement with the federal government. Therefore, in addition to being involved in providing mortgage modifications to its struggling mortgage holders, Citibank has agreed to finance affordable housing to be rented to individuals in “high cost of living areas.”
No Criminal Prosecutions
Commentators with regard to the settlement have found the federal government has not held banks accountable to the level they should regarding the real estate crisis created in the United States by faulty mortgage practices. It should be pointed out no Citibank executives were charged criminally or prosecuted with regard to their fraudulent mortgage activities.
Attorney General Eric Holder however, has indicated the settlement with Citibank does not absolve the bank or its employees of the possibility of facing criminal charges. He went on to state, “the bank’s misconduct was egregious.”
Affordable Housing
Citibank has agreed to provide $108 million for affordable housing as part of this settlement. The rental housing component of the settlement will cause Citibank to provide financing for housing developments may result in financial losses to the bank. Justice Department spokesman Tony West, recently stated regarding the settlement, “we hope this measure will bring relief to families who were pushed into the rental market after losing their homes in the wake of the financial crisis.”
Elliot Schlissel is a foreclosure attorney. He litigates predatory lending issues, bad bank practices, fraudulent mortgage practices, and other issues involving financial institutions. He also helps his clients obtain mortgage modifications. Elliot is the former President of the Commercial Lawyers Conference of New York.
Why Should You Hire An Attorney To Represent You In A Foreclosure Lawsuit?
July 18, 2014 by
Your home is most likely your most significant single asset. It is a place where you and your family reside. It is the place where you can escape the rest of the world. Your own little castle. If you fall behind on your mortgage, you may face the situation where a bank will bring a foreclosure legal action to take your home back. This will create enormous stress and aggravation upon you and your family.
The legal system and especially the issues, tactics, and procedures involved in a foreclosure lawsuit are not generally known to the public at large. There are specific time restraints. There are obligations of the bank to file legal documents, court appearances that must be made, and applications that can be submitted to the court, and legal defenses that can be asserted.
What Can You Do To Save Your Home?
The most logical answer is to hire a foreclosure attorney with extensive experience in litigating with financial institutions for the purpose of saving family’s homes, obtaining mortgage modifications, and investigating improper bank practices such as bad assignments, and predatory lending.
Receiving Foreclosure Notice From The Bank
A financial institution or bank is supposed to provide you with 90 days notice that your home is going into foreclosure. After this 90 day period, they can serve you with a Summons and Complaint. When served with a Summons and Complaint in a foreclosure proceeding, you have 20 days to file an Answer with opposing counsel and the court, if served personally, and 30 days if served by any other means. This is an important statute of limitations which can have a major effect on the foreclosure lawsuit.
You must submit an Answer to the Summons and Complaint in the proper legal form or else you default in responding to the lawsuit. This can cause serious consequences for you and your family. Failure to submit the appropriate Answer with affirmative defenses and counterclaims within the statute of limitations time period for responding to a Summons and Complaint, eliminates your ability to legally defend the foreclosure lawsuit. It is therefore extremely important when served with a Summons and Complaint in a foreclosure that you contact a foreclosure defense lawyer to discuss your options. The early involvement of a foreclosure defense lawyer can save you from losing your home.
Improper Bank Practices
The writer of this article has dealt with scores of cases in which banks have been involved in all types of improper bank practices. Robo-signers executing inappropriate documents are one example. Bad assignments from one financial institution to another is a second example. Violations of Federal, State, and New York City banking laws with regard to the handling of the foreclosure or the underwriting of the loan are additional examples of potential defenses in a foreclosure lawsuit. Some of these defenses, if properly submitted, can stop the lawsuit in its tracks, and in some occasions, even get the case completely dismissed.
Faced With Foreclosure? Call Us!
The attorneys at the Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo deal with foreclosure lawsuits and foreclosure issues virtually every day. Our firm litigates cases throughout the Metropolitan New York area, on Long Island, the five boroughs, the City of New York and Westchester. We have an unparalleled history of success in keeping our clients in their homes. Even in situations where the bank or financial institution is right and our clients are completely wrong, the average case handled by our office takes between 3 and 5 years to get through the courts.
Call us for a free consultation. Our phones are monitored 24/7 and we offer free consultations to prospective clients. Our phone numbers are 1-800-344-6431, 516-561-6645, and 718-350-2802.
Buyout of Damaged Homes on Fire Island
July 15, 2014 by
In the 1960’s, the United States Army Corp of Engineers laid out plans to develop a shield for Fire Island, which is located on Suffolk County’s south shore. Under this plan, several thousand homes in flood zones would have been torn down and natural buffers, including wetlands, would have been restored. Unfortunately this never took place.
Superstorm Sandy
After Superstorm Sandy there were scores of homes damaged on Fire Island. Fire Island is a barrier island which lies a few miles from the South Shore of Suffolk County. There are 15 separate communities on Fire Island. After Superstorm Sandy damaged numerous homes, it was proposed that 40 or 50 homes on Fire Island be torn down and dunes be established at those locations to protect the rest of the island. Surveys have been conducted by the Suffolk County Department of Public Works with regard to the amount of land necessary to establish these dunes to protect the island.
It was originally estimated it would cost $46 million to tear down 41 homes and create 15 foot high dunes to protect Fire Island. This estimate has turned out to be too low. It is now estimated it will cost between $60 million and $80 million to tear down the homes, obtain easements and to rebuild the dunes necessary to protect the island.
The Program is Moving Slowly
Homeowners on Fire Island are concerned because the program is now a year behind schedule. There are 41 homes which have been condemned by Suffolk County on Fire Island. These homes cannot be sold. Homeowners who were offered buyouts under this program, who feel they were not offered adequate compensation for their condemned homes, can bring legal action to try to obtain a higher price for their home.
Elliot S. Schlissel is a foreclosure attorney. He represents homeowners on Long Island and in the City of New York whose homes are in foreclosure. He litigates issues involving improper bank practices, bad assignments, predatory lending, and all types of issues affecting homeowners facing foreclosure lawsuits. In addition, Elliot helps his clients obtain mortgage modifications.
