New York State Boosts Funds for Foreclosure Prevention
29 March 2017 - 10:05PM
Dow Jones News
By Josh Barbanel
A program to provide legal assistance to homeowners facing
foreclosure in New York state has won a temporary reprieve.
Funding for more than 90 nonprofit groups that provide
foreclosure-prevention services was due to expire in October. The
groups had begun a lobbying campaign to get $20 million a year into
the state budget.
On Wednesday, aides to New York Attorney General Eric
Schneiderman said he would be able to provide $10 million in
funding to keep the program going until the next state budget. The
extra funds come from proceeds of settlements received by the state
from litigation involving banks and mortgage servicers following
the financial crisis of 2008.
In 2012, Mr. Schneiderman promised $20 million a year for five
years to groups organized into a foreclosure-prevention-service
network. But his commitment was due to run out by October.
Although the foreclosure crisis has waned in other states, cases
have lingered in the courts in New York. There are now more than
62,000 pending foreclosures, according to state court statistics.
That is more than there were in 2009, but about one-third less than
the peak backlog in 2014.
State law requires lenders to provide a list of
foreclosure-prevention counselors when they issue a 90-day
foreclosure notice, said Meghan Faux, acting director of Legal
Services NYC in Brooklyn.
Write to Josh Barbanel at josh.barbanel@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 29, 2017 16:50 ET (20:50 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.