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Following an expiration of federal funding for foreclosure prevention in New York, the state's Attorney General Eric Schneiderman allotted $1 million to foreclosure prevention services.
[IMAGE]Schneiderman's office will distribute the funding to nonprofit and legal aid services aimed at helping homeowners facing foreclosure.
Schneiderman released a request for applications from legal organizations aiming to help struggling homeowners last week.
[COLUMN_BREAK]""This funding will provide thousands of New Yorkers with the legal expertise they desperately need to defend their rights and avoid falling prey to unscrupulous mortgage servicers or foreclosure mill law firms filing fabricated or robosigned documents,"" Schneiderman stated.
Currently, about one in 10 mortgages is at risk of foreclosure in the state of New York, according to Schneiderman's office.
Schneiderman ""has made it a top priority of his administration to hold accountable those whose misconduct led to the collapse of the housing marketâ€" and to provide significant relief to homeowners,"" stated a press release announcing the funding.
Not only does foreclosure prevention help struggling homeowners, but according to the Empire Justice Center, it also helps the state itself.
The Empirical Justice Center suggests that at the current rate, foreclosures will cost New York's local governments about $5 billion with $186,695 in both direct and indirect costs per county.
The designated $1 million is a portion of unspent money from a 2006 settlement with Ameriquest Mortgage over predatory and illegal lending. Ameriquest paid a total of $295 million with New York receiving $22 million.
