Foreclosure Prevention Funding CALL-IN TODAY 3/7/19!

Hello,

Please see the information below about making calls today to make sure that Foreclosure Prevention Services in New York State don’t end on March 31, 2019.

It is particularly important that we focus on getting the $20 million for foreclosure prevention in the State Senate budget, so please make sure to call your State Senator first.

And please call any Democratic State Senator that you have a relationship with since the Democrats are in the majority in the Senate which means they control the budget process. If you need to double check who your State Senator or Assembly member is you can do so here:

https://www.nysenate.gov/find-my-senator  & https://nyassembly.gov/mem/search/

or  https://www.elections.ny.gov/district-map/district-map.html

If you need additional information, our Newsday OpEd is at the bottom of this email.

Thank you,

 

Ian S. Wilder, Esq.
Executive Director
(631) 567-5111 x314

p.s. We are also doing a twitter campaign all day today so please go to @LIFairHousing  to amplify our posts.

 

ACTION ALERT: Foreclosure Prevention funding CALL-IN TODAY!

The Communities First campaign needs $20 million in this year’s budget to continue critical housing counseling and legal services for homeowners in foreclosure. Funding ends March 31st for the network of 89 non-profit providers. Without funding, services will be reduced statewide and gone completely in some parts of the state.

Call the toll-free numbers TODAY to be connected to your state legislators:

  • 1-844-655-7463 to be connected to your Senators
  • 1-844-655-7460 to be connected to your Assemblymembers

Message:

“Hello, my name is ______ and I am calling to tell Assemblymember/Senator _______ that there is no funding in the Governor’s budget for housing counseling and legal services for New Yorkers facing foreclosure, including seniors with reverse mortgages. I am asking the member to please speak to Leadership to make sure that $20 million for “Communities First” is included in your one-house budget bill.”

If you know the member has been supportive, please thank them for their support.

Please share this message with your colleagues and networks.

Thank you very much for your calls!

Kirsten Keefe

OpinionCommentary

By Ian S. Wilder
NY should continue to help homeowners
Dozens of nonprofits across the state - including 16 on Long Island - will be forced to shut down services after March 31 unless Albany steps up to help fund them.
For more than a decade, Long Island homeowners have been able to turn to a trusted, legitimate, free statewide network of nonprofit help to tackle complex housing challenges. These housing counseling and legal service organizations have protected our communities by preventing displacement, stopping foreclosures, and supporting families so that they can stay in the homes and neighborhoods they love.

But 89 organizations across New York — including 16 on Long Island — will be forced to shut down services for vulnerable homeowners after March 31 unless the state steps up to fund the network. Long Island Housing Services Inc. is no exception: We will have to cut the majority of foreclosure prevention staff — including counselors, attorneys, and support staff — who have helped homeowners since the start of the foreclosure crisis.

The network has helped more than 100,000 New York homeowners avoid displacement because of foreclosure, scams or mortgage distress. Its services are supported in part by bank settlement funds available through the state attorney general’s office. The only alternative is for Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to include network funding for these programs in the state budget.

Even a decade after the housing market collapsed, Long Island has not fully recovered from the tide of foreclosures that battered many of its communities. Nassau and Suffolk counties have the highest foreclosure rates in the state and have seen an increase in mortgage defaults — including an increasing number of seniors who are getting in trouble because of their reverse mortgages. On top of that, Long Island will suffer new waves of foreclosures due to the Trump administration’s misguided tax policies that include capping the deduction on state and local taxes.

With the loss of nonprofit foreclosure-prevention housing counselors and attorneys as the first line of defense, Long Island communities will suffer a series of aftershocks from increased foreclosure sales. The courts and local governments will be overwhelmed with requests for assistance with no place to turn, while property values and tax collections will drop. The system of protections that New York State has put in place to protect homeowners and communities from unnecessary foreclosures would grind to a halt. Meanwhile, distressed homeowners unknowingly may turn to scammers looking to defraud them out of their cash or property.

Cuomo has been a leader in ensuring that every New Yorker has a safe, affordable home. By dedicating $20 million in his executive budget to this network, he can make an investment in the future of homeownership and the stability of neighborhoods across the state.

Ian S. Wilder is the executive director of Bohemia-based Long Island Housing Services Inc.