Prosecutors Discuss Settlement of Lawsuit Over Bank Mortgage Abuses

Federal and State prosecutors are in the process of working out a settlement with the five largest loan companies in the United States over their mortgage abuses. The discussions are centered around a settlement of approximately 30 billion dollars. As part of the settlement, the financial institutions will have to provide detailed assurances that they will establish and comply with better banking practices in the future. Negotiators are meeting in August in Washington, D.C. to try to work out a settlement.

Is Prosecution More Appropriate Than Settlement?

There are many families and individuals who lost their homes due to the mortgage crisis which was created by bank abuses. Many of those affected feel that prosecution of individuals is the better route than settlement. The settlement will excuse all of the misconduct that financial institutions took part in. It is the government’s hope that the settlement will have an affirmative effect on the nation’s financial system and the economy. I believe this is wishful thinking!

The public interest requires a detailed investigation and the prosecution of those individuals involved with bank abuses and fraud. After the investigation and the convictions of those individuals, settlements involving significant civil penalties can be worked out. The settlement that the government is negotiating will sweep under the rug the widespread acts of fraud and abuse that the banks were engaged in, that has resulted in a foreclosure crisis in the United States and the downward spiral of our economy. Those individuals responsible for inappropriate activities should be appropriately dealt with.

Foreclosure Defense and Saving Homes

We can help save your home from being sold in foreclosure. The Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo have been representing individuals whose homes have been foreclosed upon for more than 45 years. We litigate all aspects of foreclosure proceedings including, but not limited to, defective foreclosure lawsuits, defective mortgages, predatory lending issues, bad faith, and other real estate legal issues. We attend foreclosure court conferences for the clients we represent. We also assist our clients in the preparation of mortgage modification applications, as well as deal with mortgage modification programs that are unresponsive to our clients’ needs.

In certain situations, foreclosure related bankruptcies can be utilized to stop foreclosures from moving forward. Upon filing either a Chapter 7 or a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, the bankruptcy court issues an automatic stay that stops the foreclosure lawsuit from moving forward. For our clients who file bankruptcy, we can sometimes eliminate second mortgages. We also can assist our clients in re-establishing their credit after filing bankruptcy. Should you have questions as to what type of bankruptcy would be appropriate for you or whether there is other alternatives related to foreclosure defense, feel free to contact us. At your initial free consultation, we will discuss all of your foreclosure options. We look forward to seeing you again on our foreclosure blog.

Foreclosure By Facebook

Foreclosure proceedings must work their way through the courts in the United States. Some legal experts expect that lenders will obtain the right to start initiate foreclosure proceedings by serving the foreclosed legal documents through Facebook. Although this has not taken place yet in the United States, it has already happened in Australia.

A couple in Australia defaulted on a mortgage loan. The lender’s lawyers found them on Facebook. The lawyer served the couple their legal papers through Facebook. The matter was litigated in the courts in Australia. The court upheld the lenders right to send foreclosure notices via Facebook! The court found the couple’s privacy rights were not violated and that they received adequate notice by service through Facebook.

Canada, New Zealand and United Kingdom Accept Service By Facebook

There have been cases in New Zealand, Canada and the United Kingdom where homeowners have been served foreclosure notices through Facebook.

Service of Foreclosure Papers By E – Mail

Courts in general have not accepted e – mail service of legal notices to be either reliable or appropriate. Courts are concerned that the end users will assume the e – mails are junk mail and not open them.

New York City and Long Island Foreclosure Defense

If you are served with a summons and complaint in a foreclosure proceeding in the State of New York you must quickly take action. The service of the summons personally upon you requires you to submit a written answer within twenty days. If you are served through any other means other than by personal service you have thirty days to submit a written answer. The answer to the summons and complaint must either admit or deny the allegations in the complaint. The answer must be served on the attorney for the financial institution and an additional copy must be mailed to the court. The copy mailed to the court must contain an affidavit stating you served a copy of the answer on the bank’s lawyer. You will thereafter receive notice of a foreclosure court conference.

Long Island and New York City Area Foreclosure Defense Lawyers

If you’re home is in foreclosure we can help you. We can assist you in obtaining a mortgage modification. We can help you litigate your foreclosure proceeding. We will attend the foreclosure court conferences on your behalf and press your lender to approve a mortgage modification for you. If you contact us for a consultation we will meet with you and discuss your foreclosure options. These options may also include foreclosure related bankruptcy filings. These options may include filing either a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy. We appreciate your visiting our foreclosure blog.

Foreclosure and Unemployment

Recent news reports have indicated that it will take approximately 24 months for the New York City and Long Island area to recover from the current high levels of unemployment. It is estimated that the metropolitan New York are will not return to it’s pre – recession levels of employment until April of 2013. Metropolitan New York is doing better at recovering from the recession then other parts of the country. It is estimated that the majority of the country will take 3 years to reduce the unemployment rates to pre – recession levels.

New York Real Estate

Although property values have not recovered from the real estate crisis, in the State of New York, real estate experts are proclaiming that we are doing better than California, Arizona and the majority of the sun belt. Although the pundits are claiming things will get better, I don’t see this happening. Foreclosure rates in the Metropolitan New York area continue to climb. Banks are refusing to provide feasible mortgage modifications to homeowners. Unemployment rates are remaining steady or climbing. The business areas in local communities have been devastated. There are empty stores everywhere.

2012 is an election year. President Obama is going to have to take further action to simulate our economy and revitalize our housing markets if he wants to get re – elected.

Litigating Foreclosures In New York State Courts and In Federal Courts

There are two different routes to dealing with homes that are in foreclosure. The cases can be defended in the New York State Courts. Defective mortgages, defective foreclosure lawsuits, predatory lending and other real estate related defenses can be submitted in a response to the service of the summons and complaint in a foreclosure proceeding. Mortgage modification applications can also be submitted to the financial institutions.

Filing Bankruptcy to Stop Foreclosure

The second route is filing foreclosure related bankruptcies. Both Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcies will stop foreclosures from moving forward. The filing of bankruptcies will also eliminate unsecured debts, stop debt collection, harassment and in some cases, eliminate second mortgage liens. Call us for a consultation and we will discuss why filing bankruptcy may be in your interest, the types of bankruptcy available to you and how to re-establish credit after filing bankruptcy.

How to Pick a Real Estate Agent

Buying a home may be the largest purchase for a family during their lifetime. Picking the correct real estate agent can eliminate many problems involved in the process.

Real Estate Agents Work on a Commission Basis

Real estate agents are not paid a salary. They work on a commission basis. They receive a commission only if they’re successful in selling the house.

Try to Obtain a Recommendation

The best way to find a competent and honest real estate agent is to ask your friends, family members, attorneys, accountants or other individuals who you respect for recommendations. You should practice due diligence and interview two or three real estate agents before deciding on one to represent you.

Real Estate Agents Represent the Sellers

A real estate agent is the agent of the seller. The real estate agent does not represent the buyer. They may appear to be your friend but be careful, what a real estate agent is primarily interested in is earning a living by selling homes.

Sellers Beware

Real estate agents, upon meeting with the prospective seller, want to obtain the listing. The agent will receive a commission even if he or she does not show your home. One of the things an agent may say to you in their first meeting is “I believe I have a buyer for your house”. This is a sales pitch. They may have a buyer who wants a house in your town, but they have no idea they want your house in particular. Another sales technique involves the agent telling you that they have obtained a great offer. However, this offer may be far below what you seek to obtain from the sale of your house. Remember, if a perspective purchaser makes you an offer and it is below what you want, you can make them a counter offer and meet them halfway or three quarters of the way to the price you want.

Buyers and Sellers

Buyers and sellers have different interests. A seller wants to get as much for his or her home as possible. The buyer wants to pay as little as possible. Both of them may be dealing with the same real estate broker. This may create a conflict of interest.

Real Estate Brokers Recommending Lawyers

The real estate broker you go to may recommend a lawyer to handle the real estate transaction. The broker may say this lawyer is affiliated with our office and he or she will give you a good deal. The issue you must look into is whether that lawyer really has your best interest at heart or is the real estate broker’s best interest his or her main concern. Real estate brokers refer lawyers to their prospective clients who they know will protect them with regard to their commissions. In most situations, you are better off having an independent lawyer that you obtained from another source.

Metropolitan New York Foreclosure Defense Lawyers

The New York City and Long Island foreclosure defense lawyers at the Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo can help you if you have a foreclosure problem. Our foreclosure defense lawyers litigate defective mortgages, defective foreclosure lawsuits, predatory lending and all other types of real estate related matters. We can explain the federal laws on foreclosure and how they affect you. We attend foreclosure court conferences for our clients.

In the appropriate situation, we will discuss foreclosure related bankruptcy issues, such as filing a Chapter 7 and a Chapter 13 bankruptcy with you. In bankruptcy situations, there is an automatic stay that goes into effect, ordered by the court, that stops foreclosure from moving forward. In some bankruptcy situations, we can eliminate second mortgages. At the end of the bankruptcy, we can assist you inre- establishing your credit.

Feel free to set up a free consultation with us. We will discuss your foreclosure options with you. Thank you for visiting our foreclosure blog.

Neighborhoods Affect Home Values

Home buyers will pay premiums for homes they perceive are located in country club communities. Subdivisions with attractive names such as pleasant, acres, hills, estates and heights are utilized by real estate professionals to motivate homeowners to purchase in these communities. The naming of a neighborhood is now a major consideration in the marketing of homes.

Investigate Before You Buy

Just because a subdivision or neighborhood has a fancy, slick name does not mean it is a fancy or attractive neighborhood. Before purchasing a home, you should look into the infrastructure of the area. Schools, parks, recreational facilities, senior facilities, crime in the area and services provided the local communities are significant issues to be investigated prior to purchasing a home. Due diligence requires that you investigate in detail before you purchase a home. Drive around the neighborhood. Talk to neighbors. Come to the area at various times of day or night. See how far the schools are from your home. Check with the various rating services as to the quality of the schools. Look into criminal statistics for crimes in the area. Look carefully before you leap when you buy a new home!

Defending Foreclosure Proceedings

The Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo handles foreclosure defense for homeowners. We litigate all aspects of foreclosure proceedingsincluding, but not limited to, defective foreclosure lawsuits,defective mortgages, predatory lending issues, bad faith, and other real estate legal issues. We attend foreclosure court conferences for the clients we represent. We also assist our clients in the preparation of mortgage modification applications, as well as deal with mortgage modification programs that are unresponsive to our clients’ needs.

In certain situations, foreclosure related bankruptcies can be utilized to stop foreclosures from moving forward. Upon filing either a Chapter 7 or a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, the bankruptcy court issues an automatic stay that stops the foreclosure lawsuit from moving forward. It should be noted that bankruptcy proceedings are brought in the United States Bankruptcy Court, while foreclosure proceedings are brought in New York State Courts.

For our clients who file bankruptcy, we can sometimes eliminate second mortgages. We also can assist our clients in re-establishing their credit after filing bankruptcy. Should you have questions as to what type of bankruptcy would be appropriate for you or whether there is other alternatives related to foreclosure defense, feel free to contact us. At your initial free consultation, we will discuss all of your foreclosure options. We look forward to seeing you again on our foreclosure blog.

Renting an Apartment

Do you seek to rent an apartment? Has your house been foreclosed upon, or are you just looking to move out of your home?

Credit Issues

Most landlords do credit checks before renting an apartment. If you have bad credit, renting an apartment may be difficult for you. If your home has been foreclosed upon, your previous good credit may have been ruined by the financial institution bringing the foreclosure proceeding. If your credit rating is low, you may need to have a friend, family member or relative co-sign the lease for you.

Finding Apartments Online

Prior to the internet, most apartments were found either in the newspapers or by word of mouth. With the advent of the internet, the easiest way to find a new apartment is to go on one of the many websites that list apartments to be rented. While sitting at your computer, in your home, you can find much more about an apartment today than previous generations could. There are various services that can be utilized to find prospective apartments. Apartmentrating.com and Apartmentsearch.com are two of these services. These services include information with regard to the availability of rental apartments, the cost of the apartments, the cost of the utilities to maintain the apartments and other issues, such as whether the apartments will accept pets.

Deposits

Landlords like deposits. If you find an apartment you like but you’re not sure you want to rent it, a way of reserving it with the landlord will be to offer the landlord a deposit. Landlords take tenants much more seriously when they are prepared to put a deposit down on an apartment.

Good Luck

If you’re renting an apartment, we wish you good luck. Unfortunately, there are unforeseen problems that are not always discovered until after you rent. These can involve unruly and noisy neighbors, cockroaches, bed bugs, and the failure of a landlord to properly maintain the apartment after you rent it. So, luck is a factor in apartment rentals!

Lawyers Who Help Deal With Foreclosures

The Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo handles foreclosure defense lawsuits throughout the metropolitan New York area. We have more than two decades of experience in successfully defending foreclosure proceedings. We litigate bad faith issues, predatory lending issues, defective mortgages, defective foreclosure lawsuits and all other types of real estate related matters. We attend foreclosure court conferences on behalf of our clients. We assist our clients with mortgage modification applications and we help them deal with mortgage modification programs that fail to meet their needs. At the time of the initial interview, we discuss all types of foreclosure options with our clients.

In some situations, the best means to deal with the foreclosure is to file a foreclosure related bankruptcy. Bankruptcies not only stop foreclosures from moving forward, they eliminate other types of debt such as credit card problems. Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcies are both available to consumers whose homes are in foreclosure. The bankruptcies can also be utilized, in some situations, to eliminate second mortgages. At the end of the bankruptcy, we assist our clients in re-establishing their credit. Come in to our office to discuss the type of bankruptcy that would help you. We appreciate your spending time on our foreclosure defense blog.

Buying a Home in a Distressed Market

Adam Letman Bailey is the author of “Finding the Uncommon Deal.” It is his belief that this is the best time to buy a home. Adam believes that the key to finding a good deal regarding the purchase of a home is to have the right information. In his book, “Finding the Uncommon Deal”, he talks about becoming an expert regarding the circumstances involved in your local real estate market.

He makes three specific recommendations: 1) Limit the geographic area in which you’re looking to buy a home; 2) For a short period of time, look intensely at that local market place; and 3) Look at as many properties as humanly possible.

Developing Your Own Expertise

Adam, in his book, suggests you develop your own expertise as to what is a good value in your local market place. For you to spot a bargain, you need to know what constitutes a bargain. He strongly suggests you limit your foray into the real estate market in to one or two local areas.

Distressed Properties

Adam suggests that if you’re considering buying a distressed property, contact the bank directly. See if they will talk to you and provide you with financing to buy a home they took back in foreclosure.

Credit Scores

Before even looking for a home, Adam suggests that you research your credit score. If you’re credit score is not up to par, it is important that you rehabilitate your credit score before applying for a mortgage.

Adam’s book suggests that the real estate market of foreclosed homes represents a unique buying opportunity for prospective homeowners. He believes you can buy homes for speculation and make huge profits or simply buy the home of your dreams at an extremely reasonable price.

Adam makes it clear that he does not believe the real estate market will come back for a long time. He advises in his book that if you buy a home, plan on living there for a minimum of seven years. He believes that real estate prices may continue to drop for several more years before they recover.

Foreclosure Defense

We are foreclosure defense lawyers. We help homeowners stay in their homes, even when they’re in foreclosure. We assist homeowners with mortgage modifications and mortgage modification programs that fail to meet their needs.

We litigate predatory lending issues, defective foreclosure lawsuits, defective mortgages and issues involving federal laws and foreclosure. We attend foreclosure court conferences on behalf of our clients. We discuss foreclosure related bankruptcy issues.

In the appropriate circumstances, we file Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcies on behalf of our clients. We discuss with our clients why bankruptcy filings will be helpful to them and the types of bankruptcies available to them. Filing bankruptcy can stop foreclosures from moving forward and stop debt collection from collection agencies and collection lawyers. At the end of the bankruptcies, we can help our client in re-establishing credit. We appreciate your spending time on our foreclosure blog.

Failure to Apply For Mortgage Causes a Loss of Down Payment

Mortgage Causes A Loss Of Down PaymentA husband and wife entered into a contract to purchase a home. They deposited $35,000 as a down payment. When they didn’t close on the real estate transaction, the seller sued them for breach of contract.

Applying for a Mortgage

The issue in the lawsuit was whether the purchasers diligently applied for a $280,000 mortgage. When the mortgage application was turned down by the financial institution, the purchasers demanded that the sellers return their $35,000 deposit.

Purchasers Not Entitled to Refund of Down Payment

Justice Tom Feinman, sitting in a the Supreme Court located in Nassau County, found that the defendants “failed to properly, diligently pursue a mortgage loan as required by the contingency provision of the contract.” Justice Feinman found that the defendant, Edwin Silvey, did not apply for a mortgage. Only his wife, co- defendant Barbary Silvey, applied for the mortgage. The mortgage was turned down because she did not have sufficient income to obtain a $230,000 mortgage loan. The court held that both the husband and the wife, pursuant to the terms of the real estate contract, needed to apply for the mortgage. Since they both didn’t apply, they failed to make the diligent and good faith effort required under the real estate contract to obtain a mortgage. Since they failed to fulfill their obligations under the contract, they were not entitled to their $35,000 deposit back.

Foreclosure Defense Attorney

Is your home in foreclosure? If so, we can help you save it! We are a foreclosure defense law firm. We help our clients in obtaining mortgage modifications and dealing with mortgage modification programs that fail to meet their needs. We represent our clients in foreclosure defense litigation. We litigate issues involving defective mortgage, predatory lending, defective foreclosure lawsuits and other types of real estate issues. We attend foreclosure court conferences on behalf of our clients.

At the time of our initial consultation, we provide all foreclosure options to our clients. In situations when foreclosure related bankruptcies make sense, we discuss either filing a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Filing bankruptcy immediately stops the foreclosure from moving forward. Sometimes the bankruptcy can also eliminate second mortgages. We discuss with our clients how to re-establish credit at the end of the bankruptcy. Feel free to call us for a free consultation. We appreciate you reading our foreclosure blog.

Slowdown in Foreclosures on Long Island

In April of 2011, there were 540 foreclosure filings in Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long IslanSlowdown In Foreclosures On Long Islandd. This represented the lowest number of foreclosure lawsuits initiated during a month since December of 2008. It represented a drop of 21.5% from the level of foreclosure activity in March of 2011.

Foreclosures Moving Slowly Through the Courts

The courts in the State of New York have been inundated with foreclosure filings for the past few years. Governor Andrew Cuomo has recently stripped the budget of the court system of 174 million dollars. This has caused massive layoffs and cutbacks within the court system. At a time when there are huge back logs in foreclosure activities, there are less and less resources within the court system to deal with these foreclosures. It is estimated that it could take as long as three years to complete the foreclosure process for foreclosures initiated in the second half of 2011.

Lenders Reluctant to Foreclosure

Lenders have stated that it is an expensive procedure to litigate a long foreclosure matter. In the end, they can end up with a property that needs to be repaired and maintained. It can also take the lender a substantial period of time to sell the property.

Delays take place in the foreclosure process because lenders are allowing more time during the period between delinquency and foreclosure. They are waiting to see if loan modifications go through. They are waiting for short sales. There are judicial delays caused by the courts inability to process the huge amount of cases that are in foreclosure.

Do Delays Help or Hurt The Real Estate Market

The question is do delays help or hurt the market place. There is a considerable body of thought that now holds that the faster we move the foreclosures through the legal system, the faster we can eliminate the pain. They compare this to pulling off a band-aid one hair at a time or ripping the band-aid off all at once. Unfortunately, ripping the band-aid off all at once destroys many peoples’ lives and forces them out of their homes with no place else to go!

Aggressive Foreclosure Defense Lawyers

We can fight your foreclosure. We litigate predatory lending issues, defective foreclosure lawsuits, and defective mortgages. We attend foreclosure court conferences for our clients. We draft mortgage modifications and deal with mortgage modification programs that fail to meet our clients needs. We litigate foreclosure related bankruptcies, whether they’re a Chapter 7 bankruptcy or Chapter 13 bankruptcy. We also assist our clients in re-establishing credit after filing a bankruptcy. We can help stop your foreclosure from moving forward! Call us and we will provide you with a free consultation. We will discuss all of your foreclosure options. Feel free to come back to our foreclosure blog on a regular basis to read about real estate and foreclosure related issues.

Banks Delaying Foreclosure Proceedings

Banks Delaying Foreclosure ProceedingsThe number of foreclosures in the Metropolitan New York area has been going down for approximately six months. This has been caused by massive delays in financial institutions processing foreclosure proceedings. Banks and other financial institutions have been hurt by the negative publicity concerning robo signers and improper and illegal foreclosure practices. They are now carefully reviewing each and every case before they send it out to their attorneys to initiate foreclosure proceedings. They are reviewing all of the mortgage related documents in each file to make sure that they have been handled in an appropriate manner before initiating a foreclosure litigation. There were 9% less foreclosures in April of 2011 than in March of 2011. In the United States, there were 219,258 foreclosures initiated during April of 2011. In addition, banks seized 70,000 homes in April. A representative of Reality Trac stated, “the slow down continues to be largely the result of massive delays in processing foreclosures, rather than the result of a housing recovery that is lifting people out of foreclosure.”

Foreclosure Proceedings Taking Longer

Each foreclosure proceeding in New York initiated during the first quarter of 2010 took more than 400 days from inception to completion. This is an increase of 60 days from the 340 days this process had taken in 2009. In 2007, it took approximately 150 days to move forward, from start to finish, with a foreclosure proceeding. As the number of foreclosure proceedings has dramatically increased in New York, the time for these proceedings to make their way through the courts has been increasing. It is estimated that new foreclosure proceedings could take as long as 2 ½ years to be concluded.

Home Prices Falling

Home prices are still falling through most of the country. In April of 2011, home prices fell below the March 2009 levels. This is the lowest point home prices have been in the past two years. Unfortunately, real estate experts do not feel the downward trend in home values will be ending in the near future.

Conclusion

The real estate market in the United States is in a sad state of affairs. Unless the real estate market comes back, the economy in the United States will continue to suffer.

fore1Foreclosure Help

The Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo provides foreclosure defense for clients in the Metropolitan New York area. We attend foreclosure court conferences for our clients. We litigate defective mortgages, predatory lending and defective foreclosure lawsuits. We deal with all types of foreclosure and estate problems. We educate our clients concerning foreclosure related bankruptcy proceedings, including Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy filings.

We advise and assist our clients concerning mortgage modifications and how to deal with mortgage modification programs that fail to meet the needs of the public. We can provide you with a free initial interview and we will discuss all of your foreclosure options and how to stop foreclosures from moving forward. Thank you for visiting our foreclosure blog.

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The information you obtain at this website is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. You should consult an attorney for individual advice regarding your particular legal issue. This is attorney advertising.

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