Article Summarizes New York Law Regulating Foreclosures and Subprime Lending
The Real Property Law Section Blog, a private blog of the New York State Bar Association, recently alerted us to an article summarizing new legislation in New York designed to protect homeowners in foreclosure and subprime borrowers. The article is by Kirsten Keefe and Elizabeth Hasper or the Empire Justice Center and is entitled “New State Law Addresses Mortgage Foreclosure Crisis and Subprime Lending Abuses.”
A summary of a summary may inevitably leave out important information so we recommend reading the entire article. However, among the highlights that we noted:
- Criminalization of “Residential Mortgage Fraud;”
- Ninety-Day Pre-Foreclosure Notice;
- Mandatory Settlement Conferences;
- Restrictions on Mortgage Brokers;
- Regulation of Mortgage Servicers.
And, we noticed that in various places the remedies can include reimbursement of attorneys’ fees and even treble damages.
In short, the new Foreclosure Prevention and Responsible Lending Act appears to be tough. It creates new requirements for lenders and brokers, created new defenses for borrowers and, in addition to criminalization of outright fraud, created new remedies for borrowers who have been abused. We’ll have to wait to see how it works in practice.
