Another cautionary tale
This is another story about someone who ignored his foreclosure problem. Don’t let this be you. A man bought two adjoining pieces of property in a bad neighborhood about twenty-five years ago. He didn’t pay too much for these two buildings. They’re on a semi-main road – there are stoplights on the street – and one of the buildings features a bar/restaurant. He took out a small mortgage when he bought these two properties, but in around 2006, he refinanced the mortgage to
More is not always better
The other day I argued a motion for summary judgment on behalf of a bank in a foreclosure action. The borrower is wealthy; she owns four condos in Manhattan and a beach house in Florida. She has an expensive foreclosure defense lawyer. This lawyer can see that his client is wealthy and is taking full advantage of her for sure. He answered the complaint with something like 45 affirmative defenses and 7 counterclaims. I’m sure the borrower paid a pretty penny for such a co
The squeaky wheel gets the grease
I had a new file come in recently to start a foreclosure action on a property in Queens. There are a few preliminary things that a foreclosure attorney has to do before he can start a foreclosure action. You can get more of a deep dive into the foreclosure process here. Those few preliminary things can take a few weeks to a few months, depending on the foreclosure attorney and the bank involved. If you’re defending a foreclosure, this is your time to get aggressive in try
Don't fall into the trap
Picture this scenario: you were involved in a foreclosure action some years ago, but it went nowhere. You applied for a modification, but it didn’t happen for you. You never retained an attorney, you never appeared in the action, but nothing really happened. All of a sudden, you get served with a notice discontinuing the action. You know in your heart that it’s not over. After all, you still owe the money you borrowed and you wouldn’t imagine that the bank would just for
