Bankruptcy and Foreclosure

The main reason for homes going into foreclosure in the United States is the high unemployment rate. Homeowners who lose their jobs can’t pay their mortgages and, eventually, their homes go into foreclosure.

Subprime Loans

President Obama’s programs to deal with the foreclosure crisis in the United States were originally focused on individuals who had taken out subprime loans. It was originally thought that the subprime loan crisis was the primary cause of the high foreclosure rate in the United States. But there is a new villain in the real estate crisis – constant high unemployment rates in the United States.

Federal Programs Dealing With Unemployment and Foreclosure

The Obama Administration does have programs to help individuals who have lost their jobs delay mortgage payments. Unfortunately, the programs are designed to delay mortgage payments for a period of only two months. Since the average length of unemployment is now nine months, these programs don’t work. As of the present time, only about seventy-four homeowners have qualified for these programs.

Bank Bailout Program

The Bank Bailout Program undertaken by the Obama Administration provided $46 billion for the purpose of allowing homeowners whose homes have fallen into foreclosure to keep their homes. The Treasury Department has only spent $1.85 billion dollars to date. It is estimated that more than a million homes have gone into foreclosure because of insufficient assistance from the government for unemployed Americans.

An Obama Administration spokesperson has stated the problems with the programs to assist homeowners whose homes have fallen into foreclosure and are currently unemployed are related to the fact that the programs are voluntary. It is up to the financial institutions, the mortgage servicers and the investors to decide who receives aid and who doesn’t. James Parrot, an adviser at the White House’s National Economic Counsel, stated, “We are trying to be careful in designing programs that, at the end of the day, aren’t just about spending money but getting people back on their feet.”

Home Affordable Mortgage Modification Program (HAMP)

The Home Affordable Mortgage Modification Program was designed as a foreclosure prevention initiative. Approximately 675,000 homeowners have received mortgage modifications under this program. This represents less than 10% of the homeowners who required financial aid to keep their homes from being foreclosed upon.

Department of Housing and Urban Development Program

There is a program that has been initiated by the Department of Housing and Urban Development to deal with unemployed homeowners. More than a million dollars has been allocated to finance this program. The program is designed to provide loans to homeowners who have lost their jobs. These loans can last for a period of up to 24 months. As of the present date, there are only five states that have implemented this program.

Conclusion

The foreclosure mess in the United States, initially caused by granting sub prime loans to unqualified homeowners, is further exacerbated by the unemployment crisis that continues to exist in this country.

Bankruptcy and Foreclosure

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 bankruptcieson 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.

Bank Attorney is Punished for Failing to Appear

On November 18, 2010, Justice Pagones, sitting in the Supreme Court located in Dutchess County, rendered a decision in the matter of BAC Home Loans Servicing vs. Westervelt. In this case, the bank and the homeowner were directed to appear at a settlement conference. Settlement conferences are required under New York State law in all foreclosure proceedings. The bank’s attorney failed to appear at the settlement conference. At that time, the court could have dismissed the bank’s foreclosure proceeding. In this case, the court declined to impose this remedy.

Justice Pagones, however, found that the bank attorney’s explanation for his failure to appear at the court settlement conference was inadequate. The court thereafter scheduled a hearing to determine what sanctions would be taken against the bank’s attorneys.

Bad Faith

Justice Pagones reached a conclusion that the attorneys for the bank had acted in bad faith in negotiating a settlement with the defendant. The defendant had made representation that the bank had, without explanation, refused to re-examine her income with regard to the mortgage modification she submitted. The court pointed out that the financial institution under the HAMP directives had an obligation to review her income.

Bank Barred From Collecting Arrears and Interest

The court scheduled another court conference date. In the interim, the court ordered the bank stop collecting arrears from the date the homeowner received the HAMP denial. The court also barred the financial institution from collecting any interest that might accrue from this date. The court also waived unpaid late fees and ordered the bank to waive attorney’s fees relating to this case.

Foreclosure Court Conferences

Foreclosure court conferences exist because the State Legislature passed a law in 2010 ordering the financial institution to attend foreclosure court conferences for the purpose of finding alternatives to the foreclosure proceedings. Our law office regularly attends foreclosure conferences on behalf of our clients. We utilize these conferences to try to motivate the attorneys for the financial institutions to work with our clients towards approving mortgage modifications that take the cases out of foreclosure.

Foreclosure Lawyers

The foreclosure defense attorneys at our law office aggressively litigate issues involving defective mortgages, defective foreclosure lawsuits, predatory lending, bad faith and other real estate related matters. When appropriate, we file foreclosure related bankruptcies, including either a Chapter 7 bankruptcy or Chapter 13 bankruptcy, depending on the circumstances involved with our clients. These bankruptcies stop foreclosure and, in some cases, allow us to eliminate second mortgages. Prior to filing bankruptcies, we discuss the types of bankruptcies that are appropriate with regard to our client’s specific situation. Call us for a free consultation. We will discuss all foreclosure options available to you. Our phone numbers are 516-561-6645, 718-350-2802 and 1-800-344-6431.

Long Island Foreclosure Crisis

Long Island Foreclosure CrisisIn 2010, Long Island was a hot bed of foreclosure activity. As a result of the foreclosed homes on the market, there is now an inventory of approximately three years of homes that need to be sold. Simply stated, if no new homes came on to the market to be sold on Long Island for a period of three years, considering the current amount of real estate sales, it would take this period to eliminate the backlog of homes in foreclosure already on the market to be sold.The only place in the United States that has more foreclosed homes on the real estate market is Miami, Florida. In November of 2010 there were 893 new foreclosure cases started in Nassau and Suffolk Counties on Long Island.
The Home Affordable Modification Program (“HAMP”) that was created by the Federal Government to prevent home foreclosures will only assist 800,000 homeowners. When it’s taken into consideration that there are approximately four million foreclosure situations in the United States, less than one in four distressed homeowners will be receiving assistance.

Flawed Mortgage Foreclosure Programs

The current mortgage foreclosure programs rely on the financial institutions to agree to voluntarily reduce the homeowner’s monthly payments to an affordable level. The banks have not been cooperative in this endeavor. Instead of reducing the mortgage payment amount for homeowners, in more than 75% of the cases, the banks put the homes into foreclosure. When the banks take this action, they accelerate the mortgage, refuse to accept future mortgage payments, take the home back and put the house back into an overburdened real estate market.

New York Foreclosure Defense AttorneyNew York Foreclosure Defense Attorney

Our office defends foreclosure cases in New York. We currently have dozens of successful foreclosure cases pending in Nassau and Suffolk Counties on Long Island, as well as in Westchester, Brooklyn and Queens Counties.

Our office represents our clients regarding mortgage modifications. We are experienced with regard to the problems mortgage modification programs have. We maintain a foreclosure blog to help educate our clients regarding the numerous issues concerning the current foreclosure crisis. If our clients are sued, we represent them in the foreclosure litigation. We attend foreclosure conferences on their behalf. We litigate defective foreclosure lawsuits, predatory lending practices, and failed mortgages. If you have a mortgage modification or foreclosure problem, we are the attorneys for you!

Foreclosure Defense in Valley Stream, Lynbrook, Baldwin, Malverne, Freeport, Oceanside, Long Beach, Elmont, Lakeview, West Hempstead, Hempstead, Merrick and Bellmore, New York

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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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