Adds Protections To Prevent Default
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has signed into law legislation authored by State Sen. Malcolm A. Smith and Assemblywoman Annette Robinson which aims to help stem the tide of foreclosure.
“Southeast Queens is a breeding ground for fraudulent mortgages,” said Smith. “This trend is completely unacceptable and I am confident that this new law will greatly impact enforcement on deceptive and abusive practices in the lending industry.”
A 2010 study by the mortgage and real estate data company First American CoreLogic analyzed 80 million loans from Maine to Malibu, from 2004 through 2009.
The results indicated that a section of South Jamaica has the highest concentration of bogus loans in the nation, with zip code 11436 being the absolute worst.
Senate Bill 3779/Assembly Bill 9123, it was noted, tightens the mortgage banker licensing exemption, helping to prevent and address problems resulting from unregulated residential mortgage loans which are not subject to existing consumer protections.
“This type of legislation is long overdue and will help to reduce the number of foreclosures in Southeast Queens,” Smith concluded. “It will also encourage and promote increased cooperation with appropriate agencies to learn of unauthorized lenders and lending practices and most notably, it will also crack down on illegal conduct to protect both the consumers and the lenders who are victimized by these practices.”
