Foreclosure Rates Climbing on Long Island

Foreclosure Rates Climbing on Long IslandForeclosure rates have been climbing on Long Island for the past few months. The increase in foreclosure rates is related to lenders moving more vigorously to foreclose on homes after stopping for several months to review their practices to make sure they are in compliance with state and local laws. After employees from financial institutions admitted that they had signed foreclosure documents without reading them, New York state courts began requiring lenders and lawyers to scrutinize and check the paperwork they receive from their clients. State court judges have been aggressive in seeing to it that the lenders have all of the appropriate paperwork before they move forward with foreclosure proceedings.

As banks have corrected what many thought to be abuses of the foreclosure process, they have now become more confident that they are acting appropriately with regard to their foreclosure proceedings. This has allowed them to speed up the foreclosure processing of documents internally within their organizations.

During the first half of the year, investigations by local and state officials of bank abuse caused banks to take a second look at their foreclosure process. However, banks seem to have dealt with their problems and are now moving forward aggressively to foreclose on homes on Long Island.

The increased foreclosure activity has a negative effect on the housing market. The more homes that come on to the already over crowded housing market through foreclosure sales have an impact of reducing home values in the area of the foreclosed home.

Long Island and New York City Foreclosure Defense

The Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo handles foreclosure defense for homeowners. 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 conferencesfor 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.

Federal Program Helps Homeowners with Utility Expenses

Federal Program Helps Homeowners

There is a new pilot federal program which is designed to assist homeowners obtain low interest loans to make energy efficient improvements to their homes. This will be especially helpful for New York City and Long Island homeowners who pay some of the highest energy expense bills for utilities in the country.

The Federal Loan Program is designed to loan money to homeowners to make their home more efficient, which in the long run will reduce the United States overall dependency on costly foreign oil.

Renovations

The loans under this new program can be used for new heating systems, installing energy efficient windows and adding insulation to walls and attics by homeowners. Homeowners who qualify for this program can borrow up to $25,000 at interest rates between 5-7%. There are 18 institutions throughout the United States who will process these home loans. It is anticipated that more than 30,000 loans will be made in the next three to four years under this program.

New York Program

In addition to this federal program, there is a program called the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority Program. This offers low interest loans of up to $13,000 for renovations by homeowners.

Energy independence is worthwhile goal. Every time I pull up to the gas pumps, I think about how much better America would be if we had alternate means of heating our homes and powering our cars.

Long Island Foreclosure Defense Lawyer

We provide foreclosure defense legal services for our clients. We help them with mortgage modifications. We deal with mortgage modification programs that fail to meet our clients’ needs. We litigate defective mortgages, predatory lending, defective foreclosure lawsuits and other real estate related problems. We make court appearances at foreclosure court conferences for our clients. We file foreclosure related bankruptcies, either Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcies on behalf of our clients. We discuss with our clients re-establishing their credit and which is the best route to stop their pending foreclosure proceedings from moving forward.

At the time of our initial consultation, we discuss all foreclose defense options with our clients. We hope we see you visiting our foreclosure blog again. Call for a free consultation.

The Federal Bailout of Banks Continues

Many of the largest banks in the country have been paying back the federal government for the loans given to them several years ago when they were in financial difficulty. However, this is not true of all financial institutions. More than 600 financial institutions still collectively owe the federal government more than $30 billion dollars. This amounts to about 13% of the $245 billion dollars that was given to banks by the federal government to bail them out.

SunTrust and KeyBank are two of the larger financial institutions still utilizing federal funds from the bailout. Some of the financial institutions have used the federal bailout money to buy other banks and to line their investment portfolios. This is not what the federal bailout funds were intended for!

When the federal government became involved in the bailout, there was no end game as to how to extricate themselves from loaning money to banks. The Troubled Asset Relief Program, commonly referred to as TARP, injected the federal funds into financial institutions to prop them up during the height of the banking crisis. The issue now is when does the government get this money back and when does the program end.

The Bailout Program is Profitable

The Treasury Department has indicated that they anticipate receiving a $12 billion dollar profit related to the funds loaned to banks under the bank bailout program. However, whether the federal government will ultimately make money or lose money depends on what happens with the 600 remaining banks that are still utilizing taxpayer funds. It should be noted that more than 140 banks have not been making their payments to the federal government. A substantial number of these banks will ultimately default on their debt to the federal government. Under the TARP program, the banks can hold onto their federal funds up to three years. The TARP program is also causing many small banks to merge to become more financially stable. Larger banks have access to capital, while smaller banks have greater difficulty obtaining capital. The intent to the TARP program was to render the banking industry in the United States healthy. Hopefully this program will be a continued success.

Long Island Foreclosure Defense Attorneys

The foreclosure defense and bankruptcy attorneys at the Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo can help you with the following items: mortgage modifications, mortgage modifications that fail to meet your needs, foreclosure conferences, defective foreclosure lawsuits, predatory lending issues, real estate problems, defective mortgages, bad faith by financial institutions, Chapter 7 bankruptcies, Chapter 13 bankruptcies, providing information concerning mortgage terms and foreclosure terms, discussing the types of bankruptcy that may be available to you, re-establishing credit after bankruptcy, eliminating second mortgages and stopping foreclosure.

You also may want to take a look at our foreclosure blog. Call us for a consultation for any of the aforementioned items.

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

We represent individuals throughout the New York Metropolitan area with divorce and child custody, personal injury, car accident, wrongful death, estate administration, nursing home and medicaid issues

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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