Courts Launch Program for Early Foreclosure Intervention

In New York, troubled homeowners are getting additional help from their respected state courts. In line with the state’s efforts to curb the rising foreclosure rate, a new program involving early intervention will be launched. The said program will be tested first in Queens by this summer, where foreclosure filings have soared by 223 percent compared to 2005.

According to the proponents of the program, distressed homeowners will be receiving a letter from the county office informing them that their lenders have filed a Notice of Default against them. In addition to this, the letter will also include advices for getting a lawyer or foreclosure counselor.

It is not unknown that many distressed homeowners fail to address their mortgage problems properly. Many of them choose to ignore the letters they receive from their lenders, forcing the latter to file for foreclosure.

On the other hand, there are homeowners who lack the information necessary to make informed decisions regarding their financial problems. If only they have seeked assistance from professionals or experts on the foreclosure process, they could have avoided foreclosure successfully.

Housing advocates are delighted with the state court’s decision to launch such a helpful program. Hopefully, it will be effective in slowing down the foreclosure rate and prevent the number of homes entering some stage of foreclosure from increasing. Likewise, homeowners facing foreclosure are pleased with this kind of assistance being given to them so that they could stay in their homes.

This initiative comes right after the signing of a new state legislation this week that gives troubled borrowers an additional 90 days to work with lenders and stop foreclosure. Previously, the entire foreclosure process in New York takes about 440 days. This is considered to the longest foreclosure process in the entire nation.

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