To watch today’s video blog, please click on the link below:
Elliot S. Schlissel is a foreclosure attorney representing homeowners throughout the Metropolitan New York area for more than 45 years. He can be reached for consultation at 516-561-6645, 718-350-2802 or by email to schlissel.law@att.net. The phones are monitored 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Pressuring Banks to Grant Mortgage Modifications
The negotiations that take place in the foreclosure settlement conference courtrooms, put pressure on the lending institutions to grant mortgage modifications to homeowners. At the first conference meeting, the attorneys for each of the parties introduce themselves and the court referee or magistrate handling the conferences take into consideration each of the parties’ desires to work out non-foreclosure alternatives through negotiations.
After the first foreclosure court conference takes place, the matter is usually adjourned for several months to allow the homeowners to submit a new mortgage modification package. At the adjourned date, the referee looks into whether all the requirements of the mortgage modification submission have been met and/or whether the financial institution seeks more information. This will usually require a second adjournment for several months. These settlement court conference appearances add a significant amount of time to the foreclosure process. Cases can be in the foreclosure conference part for as long as four months to a year.
If the foreclosure conferences do not result in a mortgage modification or other resolution of the underlying issues in the foreclosure case, the court will refer the case out to a regular court part where the litigation will continue.
Conclusion
Foreclosure court conferences give a homeowner another chance to obtain a mortgage modification. It also slows the court procedures down and allows the families who are not going to get mortgage modifications to remain in their homes for longer periods of time.
Please click on the link below to view today’s video blog:
Elliot S. Schlissel is a foreclosure defense attorney. He and his associates have been helping homeowners remain in their homes for more than 45 years. Elliot assists his clients in obtaining mortgage modifications. He can be reached for consultation at 516-561-6645, 718-350-2802 or by email to schlissel.law@att.net.
Nelson and Joyce Coniglio had received more than 700 collection calls during a 4 year period when they fell behind on their mortgage payments. The Coniglios hired an attorney to try to make Bank of America stop calling them. Unfortunately, this didn’t work. A Federal Judge sitting in Florida recently awarded the Coniglios $1 million dollars related to the “unrelenting phone calls from Bank of America.”
Bank of America had an excuse for the phone calls. Their Senior Vice President, Dan Frahm, said the calls weren’t to collect a debt, but solely to help the couple avoid a foreclosure lawsuit.
Lawsuit Against Bank of America
The Coniglios were forced to file a lawsuit in Federal Court to stop the harassing phone calls from Bank of America. They received a default judgment when Bank of America failed to respond to their lawsuit in a timely manner. The lawsuit stemmed from Bank of America making hundreds of robo-calls to the Coniglios. Sometimes they received as many as 5 phone calls a day. Jason Coniglio, the parties’ son, stated “we would be out to dinner and they would ring my mother’s cell phone, then they would ring my dad’s cell phone and then when we got back to the house, there would be another message on the answering machine.” Their son, Jason, works as a mortgage broker. He diligently tried to help his parents get a mortgage modification. Unfortunately, he could never get anyone from Bank of America to cooperate with him. Their lawsuit was pursuant to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. The damages were $500 per call and they were tripled. The Coniglios’ attorney stated “the borrowers, the people who own those phones, you do have a right to privacy. And when they say to stop, you have to stop.”
Bank of America had asked the court to reconsider this large award against them. However, the judge denied their request.
Conclusion
When banks misbehave, they can be punished by taking legal action against them.
Elliot Schlissel is a foreclosure defense lawyer. He represents families throughout the Metropolitan New York area who have problems dealing with banks related to mortgage modifications and foreclosure lawsuits.
To watch today’s video blog, please click on the link below:
Elliot S. Schlissel is a foreclosure defense lawyer. He and his associates have been helping homeowners stay in their homes for more than 45 years. His phones are monitored 24/7. Please call for a consultation at 516-561-6645, 718-350-2802 or send an email to schlissel.law@att.net.
To watch today’s video blog, please click on the link below:
Elliot S. Schlissel is a foreclosure defense attorney. He and his associates have been representing homeowners and keeping families in their homes for more than 45 years. Elliot defends foreclosure litigation and helps his clients obtain mortgage modifications. He can be reached for consultation at 516-561-6645, 718-350-2802 or by email to schlissel.law@att.net.
A “zombie home” is a home which is no longer under the control of the owners, but the foreclosure case is still pending and therefore the bank does not have legal title or possession of the home.
Foreclosed Abandoned Homes
There are communities which have numerous foreclosed homes within them. Sometimes the homeowners abandon these homes. This has a negative effect on the tax base. The other homes in the area have their taxes go up as a result of this action. The abandoned homes fall into disrepair causing the homes surrounding them to lose value. When people drive through an area with abandoned homes, it creates a blight on the neighborhood. Zombie homes are a problem in many neighborhoods throughout the United States. It is estimated that as many as 20% of the homes in foreclosure are vacant.
Proposed New York Program
In States such as New York, where the foreclosure process is long, the issue of zombie homes becomes a larger problem. Attorney General Schneiderman in the State of New York is currently backing an idea of letting communities create land banks for the purpose of buying, refurbishing, and reselling abandoned homes. Attorney General Schneiderman has proposed legislation which would force lenders to maintain a property which has been abandoned after the start of the foreclosure lawsuit.
Maintenance Problems of Abandoned Homes
Homes that are abandoned often have significant maintenance problems. Pipes burst. The wood rots. The lawns sprout weeds. These homes create eyesores and create a blighted effect on the neighborhood.
Syracuse Land Bank Program
Katelyn Wright, the Executive Director of the Greater Syracuse Land Bank, recently stated “studies have shown that they [abandoned homes] have a dramatic negative impact on the property values for the homes in the surrounding vicinity, but also less dramatic but still notable for homes in a several block radius.” Katelyn Wright, as Director of the Greater Syracuse Land Bank, has been involved in dealing with abandoned homes in the Syracuse area. Syracuse experiences as many as 50 new abandoned homes each month. The Land Bank buys many of these homes for a very modest price using State, City and County funding. The homes are then either rehabilitated and put back on the market or, if they are not able to be rehabilitated, they are demolished. This is an example of how one community is dealing with zombie homes.
Elliot Schlissel is a foreclosure attorney who represents homeowners whose homes have been foreclosed on. He helps keep his clients in their homes and advises his clients not to abandon their homes.
BAC Home Loans Servicing had brought a foreclosure lawsuit against Ramsay. BAC had moved for summary judgment claiming there were no issues of fact and therefore they should be entitled to summary judgment without the need for a trial. They also sought to strike Ramsay’s Answer and have a referee appointed to compute the sums due and owing BAC under the terms of the mortgage.
Ramsay contended BAC’s summary judgment application should be denied. Ramsay claimed there was predatory lending and discriminatory practices involved in making the mortgage by the original lender, Madison Home Equities.
Justice Bernard Graham found BAC did not establish a prima facie case allowing them to obtain summary judgment in their foreclosure proceeding. Judge Graham had questions concerning the relationship between Madison Home Equities and BAC. A question arose as to whether their business relationship would support the allegations made by Ramsay concerning predatory loan practices. In addition the court found Ramsay had offered plausible, reasonable evidence BAC’s decision to deny the mortgage modification was based on incorrect calculations by them. Judge Graham found denial of the mortgage modification may have been unreasonable and Ramsay may have been entitled to said mortgage modification.
Conclusion
The judge carefully reviewed the facts of this case and rendered an important decision supporting homeowner’s rights in this foreclosure case.
Please click on the link below to watch today’s video blog:
Elliot S. Schlissel is a foreclosure defense attorney. He and his associates have been helping homeowners fight foreclosure lawsuits for more than 45 years. He can reached at 516-561-6645, 718-350-2802, 1-800-344-6431, or by email to schlissel.law@att.net.
Unfortunately, some homes will end up being sold in foreclosure. If your home is sold in foreclosure, your world will not come to an end! To start with, foreclosure home sales are generally advertised in local newspapers. Sales take place usually on the courthouse steps or inside a courtroom within the courthouse. Referees are appointed by judges to conduct these foreclosure sales. The sale usually goes to the highest bidder. However, if no bidder bids the amount owed on the mortgage, the bank will bid in that amount and the bank itself will take title to your home. Once the bank takes title to your home, you will be considered a tenant in the house. The good thing about this is tenants have rights!
Homeowners in Foreclosed Homes
Now that you are a tenant, it does not mean you will be forced to immediately move out of your home. The bank can bring a landlord tenant proceeding and try to evict you. However, landlord tenant proceedings tend to be long drawn out proceedings. Banks usually take a much softer approach. Your attorney can negotiate a lease where you can continue to stay in your home and pay the bank rent. If you seek to move, the bank may be willing to do what is called a “cash for keys deal”. In these deals the banks will usually pay your moving expenses and give you money for a down payment for an apartment. They will take this action to avoid the necessity of litigating landlord tenant proceedings.
Keeping Tenants In Their Homes
So your home was sold and you are now a tenant, the best way of dealing with your new situation is to have your attorney contact the bank and enter into negotiations with regard to your new status as a tenant. Banks are concerned about their image. They don’t like to put families on the street. They spend millions of dollars on advertising on radio and television trying to show they are your best friend, they are charming and wonderful and are prepared to give money to whoever comes into their branches. The last thing they want is to be thought of as that Simon Legree figure from literature.
Bankruptcy Issues Concerning The Sale of Your Home
Foreclosure cases are brought in the Supreme Court in the county in which your house is located in. Landlord tenant proceedings are either brought in a Landlord Tenant Court or in the District Court where your home is located. Bankruptcy proceedings are filed in United States Bankruptcy Court. The Bankruptcy Court is a Federal Court. It is a higher court. The bringing of a bankruptcy proceeding creates an automatic stay which prevents state court proceedings from moving forward. The automatic stay is the equivalent of a temporary injunction enjoining the state court from allowing either landlord tenant or foreclosure cases to move forward. The filing of a Chapter 7 bankruptcy can stop you from being evicted and can prevent the landlord tenant proceeding from moving forward.
Should you be in the unfortunate position where your house is sold in foreclosure, do not despair. There is still help available. You can contact our law office to discuss your situation. Our phones are monitored 24/7. We can be reached at 516-561-6645, 718-350-2802, or 1-800-344-6431.
