August 26, 2015
By Jerry Cohen, Albany Bureau
New York, NY – New York state continues to have high levels of foreclosure activity with new foreclosure filings remaining significantly higher than pre-recession levels. “The foreclosure crisis is far from resolved, and there are still too many people losing their homes,” DiNapoli said. “In many places the situation has continued to get worse.
Foreclosed properties displace families and weigh heavily on local communities, reducing property values and eroding tax bases. We must continue efforts to help homeowners and stem the spread of foreclosure-induced blight.”
Foreclosure filings rose rapidly after the housing bubble burst and the recession of 2008-2009 took hold. Between 2006 and 2009, the number of new foreclosure cases in NYS jumped from 26,706 to 47,664, an increase of 78 percent. In 2011 and 2012, new filings declined as new court rules were issued requiring lenders to affirm their claim to the property.
A recent New York State Comptroller report shows the number of pending foreclosures has grown. The pending caseload is over 90,000. Areas immediately outside of New York City have the greatest number of pending foreclosures and have seen the number continuing to rise while New York City saw a 10 percent drop over the last two years.
Unfortunately, the state’s courts’ efforts to work through a large backlog of foreclosure cases are exacerbated by the state’s complicated judicial foreclosure process. Case completions are regularly stalled and assistance to homeowners is often marred in bureaucracy.
