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Long Island Foreclosure Crisis

February 18, 2011 by
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!
Filed Under: Current Events, Foreclosure Defense Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Banks Close in Florida and Arizona

February 8, 2011 by

Posted by Elliot S. Schlissel, Esq.

Regulatory agencies in Florida and Arizona have recently closed two banks.  These two banks are the first banks that have been closed in the year 2011.  The Federal Deposit Insurance Company was forced to take over the First Commercial Bank of Florida.  This bank was located in Orlando.  The Federal Deposit Insurance Company (FDIC) also took over the Legacy Bank located in Scottsdale Arizona.  These two banks had approximately 275 million dollars in deposits belonging to consumers in their institutions.  It is estimated that these banks will cost the FDIC approximately 110 million dollars.  It should be noted that the FDIC insures each consumer’s account up to $250,000.00. Therefore, the depositors at the aforementioned banks will not lose any money, provided they didn’t have more than $50,000.00 at these banks.

Florida Has the Biggest Banking Crisis in the United States

In 2010, twenty-nine banks in Florida failed.  Florida has had more bank failures than any other state.  California and Illinois came in second and third in the list of states with bank failures.  During the course of 2010, 157 banks failed nationwide.  This is the highest amount of banks that has failed in the United States in recent history.  In 2009, 140 banks failed in the United States.  This had been the previous record year for bank failures.

In 2009, the FDIC paid our 36 billion dollars due to bank failures.  In 2010, the FDIC paid out 21 Billion dollars due to bank failures.  The numerous bank failures have been draining the FDIC of the funds it maintains to secure accounts deposited in the banks of the United States.  It is estimated that there are almost 900 financial institutions with financial difficulties in the United States.  Thank God for the FDIC! Without this Federally backed institution, hundreds of thousands of consumers would lose their life savings.

New York Foreclosure Defense Lawyers

The Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo represents homeowners in New York with foreclosure problems and issues involving mortgage modifications.  Our office is adept at keeping our clients in their homes and preventing the banks from putting them on the street.  We attend foreclosure conferences for our clients.  We deal with defective foreclosure lawsuits, predatory lending issues, mortgage modification programs that don’t work as well as bad faith issues.  If you have a problem involving a foreclosure or mortgage modification, we are the solution! Feel free to cal us at 1-800-344-6431, 516-561-6645 or 718-350-2802.

Filed Under: Current Events, Foreclosure Defense Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Blame the Banks, Not the Homeowners, for the Mortgage Crisis (PART 3)

February 4, 2011 by

Posted by Elliot S. Schlissel, Esq.

Modifications Are Superior to Foreclosures

The granting of mortgage modifications to worthy homeowners is a much better policy for the banks, the homeowners and the economy in the United States. However, the banks don’t get this! If the banks were to modify mortgages, in most situations, they would end up making more money, the homeowners would have a place for their family to live, the foreclosure volume in the United States would go down and real estate prices would start to rebound.

Foreclosures Have a Negative Impact on the Real Estate Market

The huge volume in foreclosures is having a crushing impact on the real estate market in the United States. Who is to blame for this mess? The banks and other financial institutions!!! They created the mortgage bubble by improper mortgage lending practices and they made the foreclosure crisis worse by failing to set up reasonable appropriately financed and managed mortgage modification programs. The Federal government bailed out the banks when they had financial problems. The banks were supposed to help the homeowners who were in financial trouble. They have failed miserably in this endeavor!

Foreclosure Defense and Loan Modification Lawyers

If you are involved in the above referenced foreclosure mess or have problems with mortgage modifications, we can help you. The foreclosure defense lawyers at the Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo have been assisting our clients for more than 45 years. We have dozens of foreclosure defense cases pending throughout the courts in the Metropolitan New York area. We attend foreclosure conferences for our clients. We help negotiate mortgage modifications. We are familiar with the mortgage modification programs that fail. We are adept at litigating defective foreclosure lawsuits, predatory lending and bad faith of financial institutions. Call us at 1-800-344-6431, 516-561-6645 or 718-350-2802. We can help you!

Filed Under: Foreclosure Defense Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Blame the Banks, Not the Homeowners, for the Mortgage Crisis (PART 2)

February 2, 2011 by

Fraudulent Mortgage Applications

Banks were aware that the applications that had been submitted to them by individuals seeking mortgages were fraudulent.  Instead of operating an appropriate underwriting process that provided due diligence to see to it that the consumer’s requesting mortgage loans could actually make payments on these loans, the banks simply stopped underwriting the loans in any reasonable manner.  The failure of the banks to properly underwrite the loans is one of the principal reasons for the mortgage bubble in America.

Income-to-debt Ratio

The banks have been aware for decades that there is an income-to-debt ratio a perspective homeowner must meet to be able to afford to make mortgage payments.  Loan officers, mortgage brokers, real estate agents and appraisers were involved in the submission of fraudulent documents where the loan-to-debt ratio was of such a nature that the perspective homeowner could never successfully make the mortgage payments.

Servicing Companies Who Would Rather Foreclose than Modify Mortgages

The servicing companies hired by financial institutions to service mortgages were supposed to provide the consumer with a simple, reasonable mortgage modification process.  Instead, incompetent under-financed mortgage modification programs were set up.  The financial institutions continuously ask the consumers to send and resend the same documents.  The communication level between the mortgage servicing companies and the consumer is almost non-existent.  Consumers became more and more frustrated in trying to communicate with individuals at the serving companies who knew nothing about their pending mortgage applications.  Instead of appropriately processing mortgage modifications for creditworthy individuals, these individuals have been turned down for their mortgage modifications.

Twenty Years of Representing New Yorkers in Foreclosure Defense Lawsuits

Our law firm is currently handling dozens of foreclosure defense cases throughout the Metropolitan New York area.  We help our clients obtain mortgage modifications.  We prevent banks from forcing our clients out of their homes.  We attend court foreclosure conferences, litigate defective foreclosure lawsuits, predatory lending, bad faith and other improper practices by financial institutions.

Should you need help, we are the law in the Metropolitan New York area with an extremely high success rate in our foreclosure defense cases.  Call us at 1-800-344-6431, 516-561-6645 or 718-350-2802.

Filed Under: Current Events, Foreclosure Defense Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Blame the Banks, Not the Homeowners, for the Mortgage Crisis (PART 1)

January 31, 2011 by

There is a foreclosure crisis in America.  There has been a lot of discussion as to where the blame lies for this crisis.  From my point of view, the blame sits squarely with the financial institutions.

There are those who say that homeowners are responsible for the foreclosure crisis because they haven’t been paying their mortgages.  Every foreclosure starts with a bank making a mortgage loan.  Banks make money by giving mortgage loans to consumers. They make more money when they sell the loans to other banks.  The banks that buy the loans make money when they contract with servicing companies to service these loans. When the underlying loans should not have been given to the consumer because the banks knew the consumer had no potential of making the loan payments, the banks bear the responsibility when the loans go bad.

Banks Knowingly Made Millions of Bad Loans

Banks made millions of loans in the United States to potential homeowners who had no potential of making the payments on these loans.  They carelessly handled the paperwork and processing of these loans.  Then when confronted with the mortgage crisis by President Obama, they said they would set up mortgage modification programs to help the beleaguered homeowners.  Instead of setting up reasonable mortgage modification programs, the banks intentionally and incompetently set up under-financed, poorly managed programs that were doomed to fail.  These programs, if they were properly and intelligently designed, operated and maintained, could have saved hundreds of thousands of salvageable mortgage loans.

Foreclosure Help

Should you need help with a foreclosure, we are the law firm for you.  We provide foreclosure defense for our clients.  We handle mortgage modifications.  Should you be served with a Summons and Complaint (legal documents in a foreclosure), we can represent you in these proceedings and keep you in your home.  We also countersue banks for defective foreclosure lawsuits, predatory lending and bad faith.  We attend foreclosure conferences and we litigate foreclosure proceedings on behalf of our clients. Feel free to contact us at 1-800-344-6431, 516-561-6645 or 718-350-2802.

Filed Under: Current Events, Foreclosure Defense Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Foreclosure Rates Dip In November 2010

January 18, 2011 by

November 2010 marked the lowest level of foreclosure activity in the United States in the past eighteen months! This is not an indication that the economy is coming back, or that people are earning more money and homeowners are making their mortgage payments. The significance of lower foreclosure rates is most likely caused by a number of the largest banks in the country freezing their foreclosure process due to the fact that they are being investigated by attorney generals in all fifty states. The investigations concern the improper handling of foreclosure proceedings.

In the month of November 2010, 67,428 homes were taken back by lenders. This is the lowest rate since May 2009; however, as of the end of November, 980,000 homes in the United States have been lost in foreclosure sales. This is the largest amount of homes being taken in foreclosure since 2005.

Rick Shark, a senior vice president at Realty Tarc stated “It’s almost impossible to imagine we won’t break a million” (referring to foreclosed homes this year). He further stated, “Unfortunately, it’s a record that we’ll probably break next year.” Had there not been a problem with improper foreclosure procedures, it was likely that banks would have taken back 1.2 million homes in 2010.

Due to the problems seen in the courts and the investigations by attorney generals in all fifty states, banks temporarily ceased taking legal action against their borrowers who were behind on their mortgage payments. Some banks thereafter indicated they would proceed with the foreclosure process, but there are still a number of large banks who are not moving forward with foreclosures at this time.

Foreclosure Problems to Continue in 2011

Many of the factors that have been involved in this foreclosure crisis will still exist in 2011. High unemployment, falling home values and difficulty in obtaining new mortgages are several of the factors that are contributing to the current mortgage crisis.

It is estimated that almost 11 million homes, or 22.5%, of all homes that have a mortgage, were under water for the July through September quarter of 2010. This is according to housing data by the firm CoreLogic.

During November 2010, 262,339 homes received at least one foreclosure notice. Utah is now the number two state in foreclosures on a per-capita basis in the United States. It is estimated that 1 out of every 220 households in Utah received a foreclosure notice in November 2010. This is more than twice the average in the United States. Other states with very high foreclosure rates are California, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Idaho, Illinois and Colorado. The foreclosure rate in New York is high, but not as high as some of the aforementioned harder hit states.

Foreclosure Defense Lawyers

If you’re behind in your mortgage or have been turned down for a mortgage modification, you need to think about foreclosure defense. The foreclosure defense lawyers at The Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo have been assisting their clients in dealing with foreclosure problems for more than 45 years. We also help our clients with mortgage modifications. We represent our clients in court appearances and foreclosure conferences in court. We stop the foreclosure from going forward!

We deal with defective foreclosure lawsuits, bad faith bank practices and predatory lending issues. If you have a foreclosure problem, call us at 1-800-344-6431, 516-561-6645 or 718-350-2802. We can help you!

Filed Under: Foreclosure Defense Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Problems With Foreclosure Affirmation Requirement

January 5, 2011 by
“Posted by Elliot S. Schlissel, Esq.”

Anne Reynolds Copps is the chairperson of the real property law section of the New York State Bar Association. On behalf of members in her section, she has filed objections to the Office of Court Administration regarding new requirements for attorney affirmations for foreclosure proceedings. She claims that the new affirmation requirements violates the attorney/client confidentiality privilege. She also feels that it unfairly blames New York attorneys for inappropriate practices that exist in other parts of the country.

The Office of Court Administration has recently made some minor changes requiring that attorneys must submit affirmations under penalty of perjury with regard to the truthfulness of documents that they file.
The letter Ms. Copps submitted to the Office of Court Administration questioned the preamble to the original affirmation which said “Numerous and wide spread insufficiencies in foreclosure filings in various courts around the nation.” Ms. Copps demanded that said preamble be removed. She further stated “Mandating the inclusion of this preamble in the affirmation creates an unfair and prejudicial connection between any attorney who submits the documentation and the unidentified attorneys around the nations who have allegedly committed this specific wrongs.”

The courts are now insisting that attorneys report their communications with lender representatives and attest to the best of their knowledge and belief that the statements made in all applications related to foreclosure proceedings in the State of New York be true and correct.

In a related note, Steven P. Younger, the president of the New York State Bar Association, stated that the State Bar has not rendered an official position with regard to the new requirements attorneys must meet with regard to all applications in foreclosure proceedings.

Foreclosure Defense Lawyers

The new requirements in foreclosure proceedings relate to the widespread practices that have existed in the United States in foreclosure cases. When appropriate, we counter sue the financial institution related to defective foreclosure lawsuits and predatory lending issues. We defend our clients from all types of foreclosure proceedings. We also help our clients obtain mortgage modifications. We also advise our clients as to whether Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcies would be the appropriate way to eliminate the foreclosure and save their home. Should you have questions regarding foreclosure defense or bankruptcy, feel free to contact us 24/7 at 1-800-344-6431, 516-561-6645 or 718-350-2802.

Filed Under: Foreclosure Defense Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Defenses to Foreclosure Proceedings

December 31, 2010 by

Until fairly recently, it has been difficult to submit defenses in foreclosure proceedings. However, new information that has recently surfaced and been made public with regard to banks and other financial institutions mishandling initial paperwork regarding the obtaining of mortgages, fraud on behalf of mortgage brokers and financial institutions, the loss of important documents regarding mortgages and the generally sloppy procedures utilized by financial institutions. The new information has opened up a new wave of defenses to foreclosure proceedings.

Challenge the Foreclosure Proceedings

Homeowners and their attorneys have taken a very aggressive stance in New York in challenging foreclosure proceedings. The following are a list of some of the common defenses used in foreclosure proceedings:

1. Unconscionability of the mortgage. Unconscionability basically indicates that the mortgage was simply unfair. The terms of the mortgage must be so unfair as to “shock the conscious” of the court. A homeowner’s inability to pay the mortgage does not, on its own, make it unconscionable.

2. The failure of the financial institution to follow the appropriate procedures in the foreclosure proceeding. New York State law lays out the obligations a financial institution has to its customers. The financial institution must prove all aspects of its case to the court. The loss of documents, the failure to maintain adequate records or the failure of an employee of the financial institution (who signs the affidavit regarding the case) to have sufficient knowledge of the case are defenses to foreclosure proceedings.

Action to be Taken by Homeowner

The best thing a homeowner should do if they receive notice of a pending foreclosure proceeding is to research what attorneys in their area handle foreclosure defense. The homeowner should then have an initial consultation with the attorney and discuss how the homeowner’s rights can be protected.

Foreclosure Conferences

In New York, after a foreclosure proceeding is initiated, there must be a foreclosure conference held with the court. In the event the homeowner has a pending mortgage modification application, the court will usually adjourn the case to see if the application is granted. If the homeowner’s attorney presents a very vigorous defense, pressure can be placed upon the financial institution to be more reasonable in the granting of the mortgage modification.

About Our Firm

For more than 45 years, our law office has represented individuals in lawsuits involving creditors. We handle foreclosure defense, mortgage modifications and bankruptcies throughout the New York metropolitan area. We have had a high degree of success in fighting off foreclosure lawsuits.

Should you have questions or problems concerning a foreclosure lawsuit, feel free to call us at 1-800-344-6431, 516-561-6645 or 718-350-2802.

Filed Under: Foreclosure Defense Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

NY Courts Apply New Foreclosure Rules

December 27, 2010 by
Supreme Court Justice Meyer, sitting in Rockland County, New York, had an order of reference on a foreclosure action in the matter of City Mortgage Inc. v. McGee. Justice Meyer, upon reviewing the new administrative orders of the chief judge of the New York State Courts, took note that City Mortgage’s lawyer must file an affirmation in a form prescribed by the new administrative order.

The administrative order stated that attorneys for financial institutions involved in foreclosures must include in all such filings a mandatory affirmation that they have communicated with the financial institution’s representative. The representative must have advised them they have personally reviewed the documents and records relating to the case. The personal representative from the financial institution must also have confirmed the actual factual accuracy of the paperwork and filings. Furthermore, they also must confirm that the notarization of the documents submitted by the financial institution was proper and correct.

Justice Meyer stated that “the clear intent of the new rule was to assure accountability for and accuracy of all court filings in foreclosure actions”. The Judge’s position was that after October 20, 2010, the attorney for the financial institution must file an affirmation concerning all applications made at any and all stages of new and pending foreclosure proceedings. Justice Meyer didn’t believe the documentation submitted in this case complied with the administrative judge’s order. Justice Meyer took the position that if he discovers any wrongful filing or any wrongful prosecution of a foreclosure action, it may cause him to institute a disciplinary action and/or other sanctions against the attorney submitting these documents.

Justice Meyer’s position regarding the accuracy and truthfulness in foreclosure proceedings gives defense counsel a very important tool. Now the financial institutions and their attorneys are under the gun to see to it that they have all the correct paperwork before they can institute foreclosure proceedings.

Foreclosure Defense Attorneys

The foreclosure defense attorneys at the Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo have been representing homeowners in foreclosure proceedings for more than 45 years. Our office takes an aggressive stand in these proceedings. We often counter sue the financial institutions because of their failure to fulfill all of their responsibilities to comply with various statutes and regulations. Our office attends foreclosure conferences in court on behalf of our clients. We assist our clients in mortgage modifications. We discuss with our clients the problems concerning mortgage modification programs. We actively pursue foreclosure defenses for our clients. We also discuss with our clients defective foreclosure lawsuits and issues concerning predatory lending.

If your house is being foreclosed, we are the foreclosure defense attorneys for you. Call us at 1-800-344-6431, 516-561-6645 or 718-350-2802.

Filed Under: Foreclosure Defense, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Justice Department and Attorney General Investigations

December 22, 2010 by

The Justice Department and the Attorney Generals in all 50 states are investigating fraud and improprieties of banks, mortgage companies and financial institutions related to foreclosure proceedings.There are approximately 33 million mortgages in the United States that could possibly be subject to litigation as to who is the appropriate owner of the mortgages, who made the transfers from one institution to another of these mortgages and who has personal knowledge of the information and facts maintained in these mortgages.

There are concerns that borrowers don’t know who they should be making their mortgage payments to.  The financial institutions are nervous that judges will stop foreclosures proceedings even where the borrowers aren’t making payments.  There are already cases where more than one bank has tried to foreclose on the same property.

Disruptions in the Housing Market

The foreclosure and mortgage crisis in the United States are causing significant disruptions in the housing market.  For the economy in the United States to turn around, for employers to start generating jobs for the unemployed and for the banking industry to stabilize, the foreclosure and mortgage crisis must be dealt with expeditiously.

Foreclosure Defense Attorneys

The foreclosure defense attorneys at the Law Offices of Schlissel DeCorpo have been representing homeowners in foreclosure proceedings for more than 45 years.  Our office takes an aggressive stand in these proceedings.  We often counter-sue the financial institutions because of their failure to fulfill all of their responsibilities to comply with various statutes and regulations.  Our office attends foreclosure conferences in court on behalf of our clients.  We assist our clients in mortgage modifications.  We discuss with our clients the problems concerning mortgage modification programs.  We actively pursue foreclosure defenses for our clients.  We also discuss with our clients defective foreclosure lawsuits and issues concerning predatory lending.

If your house is being foreclosed, we are the foreclosure defense attorneys for you.  Call us at 1-800-344-6431, 516-561-6645 or 718-350-2802.

Filed Under: Current Events, Foreclosure Defense Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

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Attorney Elliot S. Schlissel

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Disclaimer: 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.