Foreclosure 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.