Real LI

In the next few weeks, a national program that hooks up local governments with banks holding foreclosures will kick in for Nassau and Suffolk.

The two counties have joined the National Community Stabilization Trust, created last year by five major nonprofits, including the National Urban League.

Under the months-old program, banks and municipalities sign up to be hooked up. Participating banks give local officials the “first look” at new foreclosures and a chance to buy, all before putting them on the market. The hitch: everything has to be wrapped up within three weeks or so, the time it usually takes a lender to ready a property for public listing.

Craig Nickerson, a housing advocate who’s now the trust’s president, said the program would give Nassau and Suffolk officials a competitive edge against private bargain hunters. That's crucial now, he said, because more people, from veteran investors to mom-and-pop beginners, are feeling confident about the housing market and have started jumping in.

“These cities, in their consortiums of nonprofit and for-profit partners that they are just finally pulling together here, need to be in the position to control the destiny of their neighborhoods by picking the strategically important properties, getting control of them and fixing up the properties,” Nickerson said.

So far in the program, he said, banks have made deals on about half the bids made by municipalities.

Most major lenders have joined and the financial companies on the list so far represent 65 percent of foreclosures nationwide, Nickerson said.

Lender Wells Fargo, among the top three in Long Island foreclosure cases for the past 18 months, has signed up at the trust and interested in identifying local properties for the program, said senior vice president Tamara Swain.

“We know we’re selling it to a responsible party,” Swain said, “and we definitely believe that getting homes reoccupied as quickly as possible is essential to rebuilding the housing market.”

The trust was created to bridge the gap between “two disparate worlds,” Nickerson said.

Housing advocates complain lenders have been slow to help them rescue foreclosures, and banks say they don’t want to be in the real estate business but are limited by investors on what how cheaply they can sell foreclosures.

But Nickerson said both sides are often unaware of the workings and needs of each other.

__ELLEN YAN

Tracey Lopez, 36, wants to buy a foreclosure under the federal and state Neighborhood Stabilization Program, which has funneled millions of dollars to Long Island municipalities and nonprofits to buy vacant properties and turn them into affordable homes.

The program has its challenges, as Newsday reports, but for county and housing nonprofit officials, the silver lining to the housing crisis has been the chance to help people like Lopez stay on Long Island.

Since Lopez started her search for a property two years ago, she’s found that even condos are out of her range after factoring monthly maintenance and taxes.

She gave up her apartment to save money and now pays lower rent living in her parents’ home just outside Bellport Village.

If she doesn’t get a foreclosure, she said, she’ll think about leaving for a state where housing is cheaper.

“All along, my whole dream was always to own a place and not live in an apartment like a college student for the rest of my life,” Lopez said. “I always wanted a house with a white picket fence that I could call my own.”

— ELLEN YAN

Some $1 million in federal aid is coming to Freeport Village to fix up foreclosed houses for resale. Read the full story here.

- VALERIE KELLOGG

Usually, Long Island has less foreclosure activity than most of the state and nation, but for May, it was a different picture, according to the monthly report from RealtyTrac, an online site for foreclosure sales listings.

Lenders took 134 Long Island homes in May.

But RealtyTrac officials have cautioned against making too much of one month’s data because foreclosure-related filings, which include bank repossessions and sale notices, can be filed late.

For example, an actual foreclosure that took place in May could be filed by the lender in June or even months later. That could make May activity look artificially low. Then, when comparisons are made against numbers for the same month a year ago, the percentage increase or decrease in foreclosures could be skewed.

Read the full story on the numbers here.

— ELLEN YAN

In Central Islip, volunteers are going door to door to figure out exactly how many homes are in foreclosure. Get the full story here.

- VALERIE KELLOGG

Victoria Gotti is vowing to fight the foreclosure on her Old Westbury estate. Read about it here.

- VALERIE KELLOGG

For April, Suffolk ranked fourth among New York State’s counties in the rate of foreclosure-related filings while Nassau ranked fifth, according to RealtyTrac, an online market for foreclosures.

The state was at No. 36 in the nation on the rate for foreclosure filings, which includes notices of intention to foreclose, auction notices and bank repossessions. RealtyTrac’s report came out Wednesday, as Newsday reports.

— ELLEN YAN

A cold drizzle beat down on anyone who stepped outside the large white tent that protected elected officials and civic leaders trying to be upbeat as they attended a news conference on foreclosure Tuesday in the Village of Hempstead.

With foreclosure numbers reaching staggering proportions, Gov. David Paterson and Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi were announcing part of a program to save six homes in the county that were in foreclosure.

Two other boarded-up homes in the working class neighborhood stood in plain sight as reminders of the limits of government in stanching the housing bleed.

“This stuff is so complex,” Suozzi told the crowd. “Affordable housing is one of the most complex issues in government. It’s not simple. It is not straightforward. It requires so many different little pieces to put together, from tax credits to grants to the private developers, to HUD to the state department of this and the state department of that and the county department of this...”

BILL MURPHY

It’s a sort of rent relief – state lawmakers have been drafting the same sort of protections for renters in foreclosures that they’ve done for homeowners facing foreclosure.

Proposals in the Senate and Assembly would require lenders to give renters two 30-day notices – one to tell the tenants that the house has been foreclosed and they need to move and another to evict any remaining tenants.

Last year, Albany approved a measure that requires lenders to give homeowners a 90-day notice before starting foreclosure proceedings. It took effect last September.

In other states, many renters have found themselves evicted with little notice after the banks repossessed the properties..

The problem has begun growing in New York, where the foreclosure process can take two years, because more foreclosure cases are reaching the end of the line. Often, tenants and lenders negotiate the moving date, with the lender giving “cash for keys” sometimes.

But there’s been confusion over the rights of tenants living in foreclosures. How much notice they must get by law varies – 10 days in some cases, 30 in others or even more – and how long they can stay varies also, including whether they have leases, were named as residents in the foreclosure filing and if they live in a building with several apartments.

The proposed notices are being pushed in the Senate by Jeff Klein (D-Bronx) and in the Assembly by Michele Titus (D-Queens). Originally, the measures called for a 30-day notice before evicting tenants.

The bills are being amended and have a good chance of passing, according to officials from both offices, but it’s not clear how soon the proposals would get to the floors for a vote. The lawmakers and governor have been ensconced in budget battles.

- ELLEN YAN

Many struggling homeowners pin their hopes on getting loan modifications, but they may not like what they're offered – and they may lose more money at the same time.

At yesterday’s ACORN protest of AmeriMod loan modification company in Uniondale, homeowner Claudette Broderick said the firm got her only a forbearance from her lender. Usually under forbearance, the loan is taken off the delinquency rolls and the late payments are added on top of the regular monthly ones.

Broderick, laid off as a nursing assistant, said she couldn’t afford the regular $3,100 monthly bill and the forbearance would have pushed the monthly bill to about $3,600.

So she demanded her full $4,100 payment back and got only 80 percent of it, which is what she agreed to under her AmeriMod contract signed last year, before a new state law kicked in.

That law, which took effect last September, bars loan modification companies from taking money up front before the services are completed. It was a response to borrowers losing thousands of dollars in fees and sometimes homes to rescue scams.

Long before the law was passed, many struggling borrowers signed up with loan modification firms and consultants that popped out of nowhere over the past year as foreclosure cases mounted.

Now, these homeowners are unprotected by the new law's loan modification payment provisions. State banking officials said the provisions don’t retroactively apply to contracts and money paid up front before the law took effect

AmeriMod’s chief, Sal Pane Jr., said when a homeowner disagrees with the first loan modification offer, his company resubmits requests until the borrower is happy with an offer: “We resubmit as many times as it takes to make the consumer happy, to a point where we’re comfortable as a company that we’ve done the right job.”

If the homeowner isn’t satisfied after several attempts, Pane said, AmeriMod can call it quits and keep the money. “We send out a letter stating that our job has been completed at this point,” he said.

The state banking department said the law does not tie a loan modification company’s fees to homeowner satisfaction. “The law requires that they secure a loan modification to receive payment,” said a spokeswoman. “It does not specifically stipulate that (homeowners) must be satisfied with the modification.”

Big promises and exaggerated claims from some loan modification companies have raised red flags in some mortgage, nonprofit and government circles.

Ads and promises can be misleading if homeowners gloss over them. AmeriMod’s Web site touts a “100 percent service guarantee” – there could be disagreement on what constitutes “service.”

For example, the state banking department considers a forbearance to be a loan modification. But some housing advocates say no, because it doesn’t change the interest rate, the length of the mortgage or any other term of the loan.

- ELLEN YAN

Outlining hardships to get a loan modification can be like adjusting a tax return to get something back -- that’s what Bethpage homeowner Nancy Burn found out recently.

Disqualified in February by her bank for a loan modification, she was at Tuesday’s Foreclosure Consultation Clinic, organized by the Nassau County Bar Association, to ask if lenders have certain profiles for loan workout candidates.

“The reason I was denied at first was due to lack of income,” said Burn, as she waited for a one-on-one consultation with an attorney.

Last year, she said, she told her lender her husband has a job but that she had no “regular” income after losing work as a title closer, someone who checks land ownership and borrower identities for real estate deals.

After her loan modification request was rejected, she told her lender that she did make money, “discretionary” income as a part-time medical debt collector. She said the lender then advised her to reapply for a loan modification, which she did last week.

“I gave out too much information,” Burn said. “I reapplied with increased income, only to find out I might have shot myself in the foot.”

Now, she’s wondering if there’s a certain range of household income that would result in a loan modification for her case.

Swamped by troubled borrowers, many lenders have been giving priority to people who have real hardships and who have a chance of saving their homes, homeowner advocates said.

For example, a family that has enough income but won’t cut down on expensive habits or sell off assets may not get the lender’s sympathy.

In other cases, lowering the interest rate may be useless if the borrower has been laid off and has no source of income and little chance of getting a job soon -- that’s partly why President Barack Obama’s loan modification plans give lenders and loan servicers more incentives to modify mortgages that are in the early stages of default.

- ELLEN YAN

For weeks observers have looked at foreclosures on the East End as spelling doomsday for the market. Now there's something other than the economy to blame. Yesterday, prosecutors announced arrests in an alleged mortgage scam that led to high-priced houses going into foreclosure in the Hamptons. "The damage these defendants single-handedly caused to the East End is simply appalling," Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota said. "These defendants went on a seven-year-long mortgage fraud spree." Read all about it here, including how a former Suffolk legislator and a dominatrix got involved.

- VALERIE KELLOGG

Years ago, formal attire was foreign to business executive David Samber as he sat in his office buying, managing and liquidating distressed businesses and securities.

But now, the mortgage crisis has given the "retired" Samber a new part-time work identity and a new dress code in a scene far from Wall Street and big businesses going bust -- the world of landlord-tenant disputes at Nassau County District Court in Hempstead.

"I had to buy a suit in retirement to go to court," said the Roslyn Harbor resident, 59, who retired in 2007 by closing his SBZ Select Investments firm and who once headed Kimco Realty Corp., an asset management firm and liquidator based in New Hyde Park. "It makes you feel young," he said of his suit-wearing code. "I haven't done it in a while."

Continue reading "Roslyn Harbor retiree finds way to help in mortgage crisis" »

There were 933 new foreclosure cases on Long Island in February, according to the latest data from RealtyTrac. The breakdown: 326 in Nassau and 607 in Suffolk. There were 606 total in January. Still, lender repossessions went down. Read more here

- VALERIE KELLOGG

The median closing price for a Long Island home fell 13 percent to $360,000 last month from the $415,000 a year ago, reported the Multiple Listing Service of Long Island.

The number of closings for the first two months of the year dropped 23 percent from a year ago -- 2,486 closings compared to 3,229, according to the monthly report, which also covers Queens.

The trade association saw the 1,825 contracted home sales in February as a bright spot, because that was up 13 percent from January’s 1,615. But it may be a seasonal uptick; in 2008, February’s 2,109 contracted home sales represented a 19 percent increase from January’s 1,773 contracts.

Frank Urso, president of MLSLI and broker owner of Long Island Village Realty in Syosset, said there are other signs for optimism, such as the growing foot traffic to open houses. “I have even heard stories from the field that [with] homes that are aggressively priced to sell, there are multiple offers being made,” he said in a statement.

Real estate agents expect the federal economic stimulus plan, signed into law last month, to help firm up home sales. It gives first-time home buyers a tax edge; they can get up to $8,000 in tax credits if the house is purchased before Dec. 1.

Broker owner Todd Yovino, whose Island Advantage Realty in Huntington specializes in foreclosures, said most of the buyers for his listings are first-time home buyers who have emerged with loans after enduring the demands of a tight credit market.

While his business has multiplied three or four fold from 10 years ago, he said, don't think his profits have soared also.

“The industry has so many demands on you,” Yovino said. “I’m selling inventory, but I’m employing more people than I ever had to before. I’m killing myself. Yeah, we’re selling homes, and yeah, we’re fortunate while some people are out of business. But it’s not like we’re in Candyland here. We’re working for our money.”

Over the past few months, some agents said sales have gone up while prices have gone down. Also, foreclosure sales may be bringing down the median closing prices as more buyers look for bargains, agents said.

Suffolk had the biggest percentage decline in prices; the $309,500 median closing price represents a 13.9 percent tumble from $350,500 a year ago, the trade agency said. Nassau saw a 12.8 percent drop, or $400,000 compared to $458,800, data shows. Queens faced a 12.5 percent decrease, or $372,000 last month, down from $425,000 a year ago, according to the report.

- ELLEN YAN

Levittown has always symbolized the dream of homeownership – and has always represented so much of what happens on Long Island as a whole. Perhaps that’s most evident nowadays in how Levittown is affected by the recession, and to the declines in home prices.

Real estate experts say house after house on block after block is “upside down” – meaning that the mortgage debt on the property is higher than its value. A quarter of those who bought in Levittown in 2006 used 100 percent financing – or higher. And now that property values have fallen 12 percent over those two years, they’re all upside down.

That’s trouble on a variety of fronts, from people who end up in foreclosure to those who continue to make their payments but cannot sell even when they want to move on. That leaves a community like Levittown -- and residents like magician John Reid, above, who is in foreclosure -- in an economic stalemate.

And beyond the confines of the historic hamlet, Levittown’s story speaks to Long Island at the start of 2009, as residents and businesses are now on a roller coaster of uncertainty. No one is sure how steep the decline will be, or when the track may turn upward again.

-- RANDI F. MARSHALL

Newsday / Audrey C. Tiernan

The Obama White House is expected to roll out a $50 billion homeowner relief package this week, one that could subsidize lenders who make interest rate cuts on troubled loans.

But the big thing to watch is how the package would establish industry standards for modifying loans and also how it might be used to get the financial industry’s support to pass a bill allowing bankruptcy judges to modify loans.

Both points have been big worries for lenders and servicers, because some of the power in redoing contracts would be taken away from them, with the potential of big revenue losses, and because future borrowers may not respect the sanctity of mortgage contracts.

But the relief package is expected to take a carrot-and-stick approach that would convince critics that it’s the best alternative to the growing numbers of foreclosures, despite the $700 billion bailout passed last year for the financial industry and this week’s $790 billion stimulus package.

Setting standards for loan modifications has been the demand from homeowners’ advocates, who say the case-by-case, time-consuming approach by lenders and servicers has gotten borrowers deeper into foreclosure.

So far, the powerful Mortgage Bankers Association is not stepping on the idea of modification standards.

“We support the idea of finding one workable standard that can be used across the industry to modify loans and help keep borrowers,” MBA spokesman John Mechem said.

Foreclosure-related filings on Long Island last month fell by double digits compared to the same time a year ago, according to figures released last week by RealtyTrac, a California-based online market for foreclosures.

Delinquency, auction and other notices dropped 33 percent in Suffolk, 28 percent in Nassau and 36 percent in Queens, while the average drop across the state was 28 percent, the report said.

James J. Saccacio, RealtyTrac’s chief executive officer, said the moratorium on foreclosures by government-controlled, mortgage guarantors Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac helped continue the drop in filings that started late last year, after several states, including New York, passed laws requiring lenders and servicers to give homeowners a 90-day notice before starting the foreclosure process.

In Suffolk last month, there were four foreclosures, in which the lenders take back the properties after a lengthy, legal process; last year the same time, there were 34 foreclosures, the data shows. In Nassau, 53 properties were foreclosed, compared to 32 a year ago, RealtyTrac said. In Queens, 122 properties were taken back last month, compared to 66 last year, the business said.

But the number of newly-started foreclosure cases, which can take 18 months or more to wrap up in New York state, rose in Suffolk from 138 in December to 440 last month, the report said.

RealtyTrac and other mortgage experts have said the state's new law had been artificially keeping numbers down in the last few months.

But in Nassau, newly-started foreclosure cases fell, from 184 in December to 166 last month, the data shows. In Queens, it was 227 in December and 304 last month, RealtyTrac said.

RealtyTrac has said delays can occur in municipalities recording foreclosure data so one month’s figures may contain cases from the previous month.

Hempstead Town accounted for 72 percent of the properties scheduled for the first time to be auctioned off as foreclosures, according to Property Shark’s fourth-quarter report for 2008.

That’s 319 out of 443 houses in Nassau, said the Brooklyn-based firm, which provides data to the real estate and mortgage industry.

“It’s not one of the most well-to-do towns, and it also has a high-density population” with many single-family homes, said Bill Staniford, Property Shark’s chief executive officer.

The figures do not reflect how many of those houses make it to the auction block and are foreclosed, because there can be a four-week lag between the scheduling and the auction. It’s enough time for some lenders and homeowners to make deals.

In Nassau, the 443 newly-scheduled foreclosures is a 10 percent drop from the third quarter to the fourth, but those homes represent a 76 percent jump from fourth quarter a year ago, when there were 252 new homes on the auction schedule, Property Shark said.

But in Suffolk, the number jumped 23 percent to 276 homes over the fourth quarter and went up 39 percent compared to a year ago, the report said.

Staniford said he thinks Nassau’s figure went down because auctions in the county are held on Tuesdays and in the last quarter, no auctions were held on two Tuesdays, the election and Veterans Day.

“We definitely think that skewed the numbers,” he said. “That can be upwards of 100 properties a day.”

Suffolk auctions can be held any day.

The debris-grabbing crane, weed whackers, the bagging of trash at Hempstead Village house in foreclosure - everything stopped for several minutes as guys in the village cleanup found a different type of litter.

There, in a pillow-sized clearing between the board-up house and hip-high vegetation, were six newborn kittens, huddled together, eyes still shut. The mother cat had scatted off when a worker came close to rake out trash among the weeds. The mother cat returned, after the crew, the payloader and noise had gone.

“The kittens almost got hit with the rakes while we were going through the bushes, but luckily, they were all okay,” said village truck driver Gregory Mack, who was cleaning up by the new litter.

A neighbor said the woman who once lived at the house fed cats, but she had moved months ago because the house was in foreclosure, an example of the crisis brewing over Long Island's vacant houses, as Newsday reports.

More and more animals have become the victims of the mortgage crisis, left behind by their owners and caretakers. It’s been a problem in many parts of the nation, as pet owners give up their loved ones to shelters and possible death because they can't afford extra mouths or just flee their homes because they can’t make mortgage payments.

In Mastic Beach, one family said it’s been caring for their former neighbors’ four house cats, homeless outside.

Thomas and Heather Guidone said their former neighbors abandoned the house and pets when they could not pay the mortgage.

But the couple said they can’t let a new group of cats inside. They have several cats of their own.

One fall morning, the Guidones sat on their front porch, and some of the ex-neighbors’ cats milled around them and sat in laps. One cat kept licking an empty food bowl.

Thomas Guidone said another cat, a shyer one, has been staying mostly in his former owners’ garage. He thinks the animal has been waiting for his human family to come back.

Guidone looked down at the outside cats. There was a food bowl near his feet, a water bowl
too.

The morning was chilly, and it reminded him of his intentions: “I’m thinking of building a heated cat house for them for the winter.”

A year ago, when Newsday did a study on foreclosures on Long Island, reporters and experts alike were surprised and concerned by the extent of the damage.

Now, it's even worse.

Initial foreclosure filings on Long Island more than doubled in the last two years, as nearly 11,600 lis pendens -- the first legal document in the foreclosure process -- were filed in the first eight months of 2008 across Nassau and Suffolk counties, a Newsday analysis found. The trend is all but destroying whole streets and neighborhoods, which have multiple foreclosures along even a single block. And nearby businesses that were already struggling are seeing an even larger decline in sales.

Experts, meanwhile, suggest that there's more to come, as additional waves of interest rates are due to reset in the coming months.

Meanwhile, lending standards have toughened considerably on Long Island -- and that's making it harder for buyers to buy and owners to refinance. That makes Long Island's housing picture that much worse, as the same neighborhoods that have the most foreclosures also have residents getting fewer loans and facing higher denial rates, while black and Hispanic potential borrowers are also facing broader lending declines than whites. "This has just tremendous ramifications for the future stability of these communities and I would argue of the region as a whole," said Elaine Gross, who heads Erase Racism in Syosset.

To read the full story -- and see a map of foreclosures across Long Island -- click here.

RANDI F. MARSHALL

Here’s a video about Ozone Park, a blue collar community thrown into chaos by a slew of foreclosures that have left once tidy neighborhoods blighted with grafitti, vagrants, petty crime and garbage.

Done by journalism student Sergey Kadinsky, the video focuses on a proposed state law to force banks to keep up the properties that stand vacant. Community organizer Seema Agnani comments on the problems and explains what afflicted communities can do for themselves.

The video is up on YouTube and linked in a variety of Queens blogs. Although Kadinsky is identified as being with the CUNY student NYCity News Service, the video seems not to be on that site.

The debris-grabbing crane, weed whackers, the bagging of trash at Hempstead Village house in foreclosure - everything stopped for several minutes as guys in the village cleanup found a different type of litter.

There, in a pillow-sized clearing between the board-up house and hip-high vegetation, were six newborn kittens, huddled together, eyes still shut. The mother cat had scatted off when a worker came close to rake out trash among the weeds. The mother cat returned, after the crew, the payloader and noise had gone.

“The kittens almost got hit with the rakes while we were going through the bushes, but luckily, they were all okay,” said village truck driver Gregory Mack, who was cleaning up by the new litter.

A neighbor said the woman who once lived at the house fed cats, but she had moved months ago because the house was in foreclosure.

More and more animals have become the victims of the mortgage crisis, left behind by their owners and caretakers. It’s been a problem in many parts of the nation, as pet owners give up their loved ones to shelters and possible death because they can't afford extra mouths or just flee their homes because they can’t make mortgage payments.

In Mastic Beach, one family said it’s been caring for their former neighbors’ four house cats, homeless outside.

Thomas and Heather Guidone said their former neighbors abandoned the house and pets when they could not pay the mortgage.

But the couple said they can’t let a new group of cats inside. They have several cats of their own.

One fall morning, the Guidones sat on their front porch, and some of the ex-neighbors’ cats milled around them and sat in laps. One cat kept licking an empty food bowl.

Thomas Guidone said another cat, a shyer one, has been staying mostly in his former owners’ garage. He thinks the animal has been waiting for his human family to come back.

Guidone looked down at the outside cats. There was a food bowl near his feet, a water bowl
too.

The morning was chilly, and it reminded him of his intentions: “I’m thinking of building a heated cat house for them for the winter.”

Nassau ranked 7th in the state in the number of foreclosure-related filings compared to households, while Suffolk was No. 19, according to RealtyTrac’s November report.

There was one filing per 1,819 households in Nassau and one per 3,351 households in Suffolk, figures show. Foreclosure-related filings include lis pendens, which notifies borrowers of a pending suit, and bank repossessions.

Queens was No. 5, with a rate of one filing for every 1,626 households, said RealtyTrac, a California-based online market for foreclosures.

Topping the list was Orange County -- one filing for every 426 households, the company said.

In the nation, New York state ranked 39th, with one filing per every 3,040 households, according to the report.

When it comes to the mortgage crisis and foreclosures, there are all sorts of indicators on the scope of problems in various communities.

One county may be high on one list but rank lower on another.

RealtyTrac, a California-based online site for foreclosure sales listings, calculates the number of foreclosure-related filings to the number of existing households, including renters.

Suffolk, Nassau and Queens are at the top of New York State’s list in terms of number of foreclosure-related filings, from delinquent notices to bank repossessions, but not when it comes to filings per household.

For example, Suffolk had 294 foreclosure-related filings in October, about one filing for every 1,847 households, according to RealtyTrac. The county ranked 16th in New York on foreclosure filing rate.

No. 1 in the foreclosure-filing rate per household was Orange County, according to the October report. It had 169 filings, fewer than Suffolk, but that was a rate of one filing per every 787 households, said RealtyTrac, whose report is in Newsday.

Nassau ranked 10th and Queens was fourth.

New York state's new law to help troubled homeowners, signed by the governor in August, might be having an effect -- at least on foreclosure-related numbers, according to a Newsday report on September figures compiled by RealtyTrac, an online market for foreclosures.

The law was aimed at helping subprime borrowers facing foreclosure to get more time to save their homes and also get counseling and help.

"Reduced, reduced, reduced" is the way Daniel Gale Sotheby's International Realty advertises this Colonial on two acres in Lloyd Harbor. The asking price for this bank-owned seven-bedroom, six-bath home in the Cold Spring Harbor school district is now $995,000. In addition to a five-car garage, the property has a dock and mooring rights.

A cottage industry has sprung up to cater to troubled homeowners and to get around the tight credit market, especially companies offering to do loan modifications for a fee, as Newsday reports.

Entrepreneurs and businesses have found a niche offering a variety of services, from mental de-stressing counseling to pulling the equity out of homes. Some mine public documents for homeowners in foreclosure proceedings and hire refugees from the mortgage and real estate world to make calls; others network at churches to spread the word about their services or pay for leads to new customers.

“The market created an opportunity and now people are going to exploit it,” said Bill Desane, who said he was a millionaire business consultant years ago, then went bankrupt through bad investments and now has launched a Hauppauge company to rescue homeowners before foreclosure proceedings start.

Desane’s start-up, Stablefooting Inc., would offer a pre-loan, “prenuptial agreement” that allows both sides to get out of the mortgage in case of trouble and lays out a rescue plan for the homeowner, from job placement to counseling.

The company would charge the homeowner 1 percent of the loan for the prenuptial and then a lot more later if it must launch into rescue mode by paying off the mortgage, taking the house deed and providing services -- job training, counseling and more -- to get the homeowner financially stable enough to get a new loan.

“We call it social capitalism,” Desane said. “It’s assurance, not insurance.”

Now all he needs is $25 million. Desane said four groups of investors, including three hedge funds courted since April, are close to delivering.

The problem in a lot of these new companies and products is they don't have a track record. It's tough to determine if they'll be reliable and their products good for them or good for the homeowner or perhaps both.

Lenders repossessed 134 homes on Long Island last month, as the rate of foreclosures statewide grew by 33 percent from a year ago, according to figures to be released today by RealtyTrac.

In Suffolk, 78 homes were seized, a 51 percent increase from August, 2007, according to RealtyTrac, an online market for foreclosures. Nassau last month had 56 foreclosures, a 25 percent increase from a year ago. The 122 properties repossessed in Queens represent a 54 percent increase, the report said.

For Nassau and Queens, those annual increases are substantially lower than those reported for the month of July. Because of a problem obtaining data for Suffolk in July 2007, the comparison between July 2008 to the previous year was not clear.

RealtyTrac spokesman Daren Blomquist said data for Long Island and the state showed “a general trend upward in foreclosure activity over the last year-and-a-half.” However, he added, “the foreclosure rate in those two counties is still below the national average.”

In Suffolk, filings shot up 51 percent, or one home for every 903 households. Filings increased by only 5 percent in Nassau, where the rate was one in every 959 households. In Queens, the number went down by 16 percent, or one in every 880 households.

Statewide, one in every 1,444 households received a foreclosure notice and the rate nationwide was one in every 416 households.

-EMI ENDO

This bank-owned ranch in Hicksville is on the market for $369,900. Annual taxes are $6,277. There are four bedrooms and two bathrooms. The lot is 60 feet by 100 feet. The house was built in 1948. Listing agent: Todd Yovino, Island Advantage Realty, 631-351-6000.

This bank-owned ranch in Farmingville is on the market for $279,000. Annual taxes are $2,564. There are two bedrooms and one bathroom. The lot is 50 feet by 150 feet. The house was built in 1952. Listing agent: Todd Yovino, Island Advantage Realty, 631-351-6000.

This bank-owned Colonial in Freeport is on the market for $329,900. Annual taxes are $6,377. There are three bedrooms, one bathroom and one half-bath. The lot is 55 feet by 99 feet. The house was built in 1920. Listing agent: Todd Yovino, Island Advantage Realty, 631-351-6000.

This bank-owned three-bedroom, two-bath cape in Brentwood is on the market for $325,000. Annual taxes are $6,082. The house was built in 1971. The lot size is .15. Listing agent: Todd Yovino, Island Advantage Realty, 631-351-6000.

This Levittown cape is on the market for $334,900. Annual taxes are $8,885. The house has three bedrooms and two bathrooms. It was built in 1948. The lot size is 600 feet by 100 feet. Listing agent: Todd Yovino, Island Advantage Realty, 631-351-6000.

This three-bedroom, one-bath Brentwood ranch is on the market for $249,900. Taxes are $5,269 a year. The lot size 75 feet by 150 feet. The house was built in 1950. Listing agent: Todd Yovino, Island Advantage Realty, 631-351-6000.

Two weeks ago, something happened to John Marquis from Coach Realtors, something he's never experienced in his 25 years as an agent.

He was at a closing in which everyone was waiting for the lender's attorney. An hour later, they reached the lender's attorney.

"We're told the closing had been canceled by the lender," Marquis said. "The lender decided to change the rules and wanted more down payment from the buyer."

The lender's representative said a message had been left for the buyer's attorney, but no one in the office said they had gotten it, Marquis said. The lender was California-based IndyMac, which this week announced it would lay off 3,800 of its 7,200 employees and sell about 60 of its 150 retail loan offices.

All this comes as Long Island's and Queens' median closing price rebounded in June from May's four-year low, as Newsday reports on the data from the Multiple Listing Service of Long Island.

At the same time, RealtyTrac, an online market for foreclosures, said that June's foreclosure-related filings fell 3 percent nationwide but is still a 53 percent increase from a year ago, today's Newsday shows.

“American Foreclosure: Everything You Need to Know about Preventing and Buying” by Trevor Rhodes (McGraw Hill, $25.95): This book examines foreclosures from the perspective of the homeowner and a buyer by providing extensive details on state-by-state forms and legal procedures. The author is not only a real-estate professional; he says he lost his first home to foreclosure and so knows the pain of losing a property. His main topics are: preventing foreclosure and avoiding scams; discovering financial options and risks; understanding the foreclosure process; communicating and negotiating with lenders; finding and buying foreclosed properties. The book is accompanied by a CD that includes forms, resources, property listings and other materials.

- PAM ROBINSON

Both Suffolk and Nassau Counties saw an increase in foreclosure activity last month, compared with a year ago, according to the latest data from RealtyTrac, a foreclosure marketplace and data provider.

And yet, Long Island’s foreclosure rate continues to remain relatively low compared with the nation as a whole and even other parts of New York State, the data indicated.

Nassau County reported 422 foreclosure filings in May, compared with 399 in May of 2007. One in every 1,086 households received a foreclosure filing last month, RealtyTrac reported. In Suffolk County, one in every 1,196 households received a foreclosure filing, as the county reported 454 filings last month, compared with 371 a year ago.

Those numbers remain significantly below April’s data, when both Nassau and Suffolk counties saw spikes in foreclosure filings, the company said. Nonetheless, the rates are worse than New York State as a whole, where one in every 1,500 households received a foreclosure notice. Ten counties in the state were worse off than Long Island, with Albany County at the top of the state’s list, with a foreclosure rate of one in every 423 households.

Nationwide, one in every 483 households received a foreclosure filing. Nevada, California, Arizona and Florida are at the top of the trouble list. The national foreclosure rate was the highest it has been since RealtyTrac began reporting data in January, 2005.

-RANDI F. MARSHALL

This bank-owned ranch in Dix Hills is on the market for $349,900. Annual taxes are $10,626. The house was built in 1963. There are three bedrooms and one bathroom. The property is a third of an acre. The house is in the Commack school district. Listing agent: Todd Yovino, Island Advantage Realty, Huntington, 631-351-6000.

Here’s a dispatch from the house-buying warfront -- the foreclosure market. Agent Teresa Boardman says that despite the hype, and bus tours, “The homes and the opportunities are not as wonderful as the marketing leads us to believe.”

She lays out the difficulties of such purchases – everything takes longer, many houses are in poor repair and buyer visits can be dangerous. And then there is this: “The houses tell me stories. A child's toy on the kitchen counter, phone numbers for the pediatrician and family dentist on the refrigerator. It hurts to go inside some of them. Clients ask why the homes are in such disrepair and wonder where the children are now.”

She wonders who the winners will be in her Minnesota community. “It will be interesting to see what my town will look like in a few years. About 25- to 30 percent of the inventory of available homes is foreclosures and that number is growing.”

This bank-owned cape in Massapequa is on the market for $219,000. Annual taxes are $6,300. There are four bedrooms and two bathrooms. The house was built in 1954. The lot size is 60 feet by 100 feet. Listing agent: Todd Yovino, Island Advantage Realty, Huntington, 631-351-6000.

Former “Star Search” host Ed McMahon, who also was Johnny Carson’s sidekick on “The Tonight Show,” is fighting to avoid foreclosure on his multimillion-dollar Beverly Hills home, according to published reports.

The Wall Street Journal first reported that McMahon, 85, was $644,000 behind on payments on $4.8 million in mortgages when a unit of Countrywide Financial Corp. filed a default notice Feb. 28 with the Los Angeles County Recorder’s Office.

Continue reading "TV legend Ed McMahon facing foreclosure" »

Back in 2006, Newsday wrote of the opening of the Hampton Designer Showhouse: "Oh, how to sell a $25 million-plus house? Especially one designed by Christie Brinkley's likely soon-to-be ex-husband, architect Peter Cook. That's the real ticket for the 18,000-square-foot new mansion in Bridgehampton that's hosting this year's Hampton Designer Showhouse, a fundraiser for Southampton Hospital." Well, guess what? The Highland Terrace house still has not sold. A lis pendens has been filed against the house, now listed for $19.995 million. "Mortgage defaults, foreclosures and the Hamptons were words that until recently were never mentioned in the same breath," reports today's Newsday. "Defaults and foreclosures took place elsewhere. But over the past year across the East End there's been a noticeable increase in 'lis pendens' -- the first legal foreclosure notice -- and even foreclosure auctions, which take place in courtrooms or on town hall steps." Read the full story here.

Photo by Doug Kuntz

It’ll be a long Saturday.

From noon to 7 p.m. June 7 in Westbury, Long Island homeowners will be able to have their mortgages examined one-on-one by representatives of their lenders or their mortgage servicing companies. Nonprofit mortgage counselors, attorneys, Nassau County officials and state banking employees will also be at hand to help.

Continue reading "Westbury seminar for homeowners facing foreclosure" »

Well, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) sure knows how to accommodate a crowd unlike, ah-hem, whoever was responsible for the seating shortage fiasco at Radio City Music Hall for the "Sex and the City" premiere.

In response to an overwhelming interest in the organization’s June 5 seminar for homeowners -- in which the topic of avoiding foreclosure will be addressed -- the group has changed the location of the meeting to the Calvary Tabernacle Youth Center at 253 Fulton St. in Hempstead. The time: 6 p.m. The larger facility is right around the corner from ACORNs headquarters.

This bank-owned cape in Franklin Square is on the market for $339,900. Annual taxes are $8,981. There are four bedrooms and one bathroom. The house was built in 1936 The lot is 40 feet by 100 feet. Listing agent: Todd Yovino, Island Advantage Realty, Huntington, 631-351-6000.