Finish the Message

One year ago, the Chief Judge in New York issued his order instructing those attorneys whose practice is to represent lenders in residential foreclosure actions to follow the law and act reasonably and responsibly in filing accurate papers before the residence is auctioned.  Cutting edge?  This past Friday, a 12 page agreement was published requiring one of the largest lender-based residential foreclosure law firms in New York to implement a significant number of steps to provide compliance with New York State statutes, rules and regulations regarding accurate court filings in residential mortgage foreclosure lawsuits.  Wildly controversial?

These are not "activist" doctrines.  Moreover, why should our lender lawyers and the justices throughout our state need of such directives in the first place?  The prohibition of improper mortgage assignments, diligent conversation with lenders, training programs for the legal staff and document accuracy should not reach this level of complex oversight or initiatives at the highest level.  Our clients are not rebels who seek Supreme Court decisions from Washington DC, but homeowners and business owners who have the presumptive legal and civil right that their homes and businesses may not be taken away without justification and compliance with the law.

Finish the message that made real sense when HAMP was proposed:  the nationwide foreclosure solutions and loan modification procedures implemented at the very highest federal levels.  Not a single client who has visited our law firm, Rubin & Licatesi, PC, has willingly entered our halls without a common thread of prohibitively violated rights, hide-and-seek failures with their lenders and servicers and untimely and hugely inappropriate loan modification denials.   Regulators at the state and federal levels have issued numerous reports and findings, with cease-and-desist orders, fines and findings of unsafe and unsound foreclosure practices, violations HAMP guidelines and state laws. Yet the chase continues to decline and the foreclosure chaos seeds grow ever stronger.

"Is it possible to lose our home..........When will we have to move out.............?"  The questions are not exactly cartoon images or a corner debate on sports talk.  The callers and clients to our law firm have every right to be concerned.  As defendants in a mortgage foreclosure lawsuit, caught up in a legal proceeding with complex and technical disputes and standards, and often coupled with subtle and hidden prejudices within the judicial system, the traps are hard and certain.   Few families and business owners jump on the bandwagon to preserve and protect their civil rights. Consequently, the incidence of disregard and default multiplies.   Our clients enter our law firm suffering from their own values and losses, with multiple layers of issues to uncover until the clarity of the process is restored. Their voices are heard with renewed focus that speaks to the benefits when committed to defending their homes and business properties.

Essentially, the process works.  Predictably, a mortgage foreclosure lawsuit is defensible.  We partner with our clients and retrieve the legal documents, loan modification submissions, and closing files to review and identify the approaches and protections best suited in each case.   The initial consultation, analysis and review is performed in our law firm, at no charge to our new callers, to demonstrate both the vulnerability of the actions taken against them and the opportunities and access which can be presented to determine the management of the lawsuit.

Troubled properties are often the subject of loan modifications and the messages of success are inspiring, yet require experienced counsel and balancing.  Owners may be presented with cancellation of indebtedness income issues, requiring an understanding of possible tax consequences to contend with.  "From the frying pan into the fire?"  Facilitating the loan modification efforts is not an easy task and our clients and callers must approach the exchange of sensitive and personal financial information with their lenders during a period of default, giving the process its best chance to work and maintaining the awareness that success breeds new issues and challenges.

This is what the lawyers and staff at Rubin & Licatesi PC do to maintain the bridge when clients and new callers are involved in the foreclosure disasters.  It is important to protect and preserve the civil rights of our clients in court and allow the greater points of recovery to overcome the hidden dangers of mortgage defaults.  The necessary work in a fragmented system, with maximum impact and cost effective practices are the responses which we value in our law firm.   We seek to express that our law firm is here to help during these most difficult of times.  Footwork, document reviews and retaining the services of an attorney when faced with mortgage arrears and foreclosure lawsuits will ultimately expose and achieve the best results possible.  Somewhere along the way, when you face the issues of wrongful foreclosure and improper loan modification denials, and have committed to fighting foreclosure today, call our law firm.... Rubin & Licatesi PC..... to help KEEP HOME YOUR OWN.