Photo by Miriam Quinones
With the northeast Bronx still facing the highest number of foreclosures in the borough, a local councilman proposes a plan that could stave off foreclosures, coinciding with a larger goal with city officials.
Councilman Andy King, representing the 11th Council District, is turning to extending the deadline on lien sales from one to two years. Liens, a collection of unpaid debts that could include water bills, are given at least one year to be paid off by the city Finance Department. As it stands, liens are typically sold to a lien servicing company after one year. The buyer can attach more fees, potentially putting the homeowner in a deeper hole and forcing them to use money originally earmarked for mortgages to satisfy the debt.
The proposal could stave off the foreclosure trend still sweeping the northeast Bronx, where properties remain on the market or distressed, creating instability in a neighborhood.
“The Bronx has an increase in foreclosure activity compared to the rest of the nation,” said Daren Blomquist, an analyst with RealtyTrac, a think tank group that follows real estate trends.
Figures provided by RealtyTrac show the month of March 2016 saw 256 homes that were either in default, at auction or in possession of a bank that unsuccessfully tried to auction it. These numbers reflect trends happening in the zip codes of 10466, 10467, 10469, and 10470. The real estate picture is an improvement from March 2009, three months after the housing bubble burst, when a total of 340 homes were in default, at auction or under the bank’s possession, according to figures.
Members of Community Board 12, which covers King’s district, found many residents were scammed into subprime mortgages and placed into homes they could not afford, forcing many homeowners to put their property up for foreclosure. King notes that the northeast Bronx’s working class demographics could not afford the high interest rates from these subprime mortgages.
Yet these houses are not completely out of the foreclosure process. In some cases, homeowners in default completely walk away from the home should a foreclosure notice come in the mail. Banks, fearing having to spend money to maintain a home’s upkeep, classify the home as a so-called zombie property, leaving ownership of the property in limbo.
“The best thing to happen now is for properties to go through the foreclosure process. Once it is done with, then these properties can be in the arms of people who want to be homeowners,” said Blomquist.
With homeowners teetering on foreclosure, a crop of home-buying advertisers have posted “We Buy Homes Quick” signs across the area, promising residents to relieve them of their distressed homes with no fuss. Usually these homes are sold at a reduced price than what a homeowner initially paid.
King’s proposal is one of a few efforts to assist foreclosed homes. Among the most recent is the Community Restoration Program, where the City of New York looks to buy 12 homes across the borough that fall under the Federal Housing Administration. A total of $13 million through city, state, federal and private financing will be used to refinance distressed homes, thus keeping them from going to auction and preventing homeowners from losing their homes.
“[The program] ensures that distressed mortgages don’t end up in the hands of the highest bidders whose goal is to profit off other people’s losses,” said New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, whose office secured $5 million from settlements banks made to the state following the 2008 Great Recession.
Meantime, Governor Andrew Cuomo has made $100,000 available to spruce up vacant properties and make them more available for potential homeowners.
”There are a lot of talks that are going to continue to happen. It’s up to myself and other electeds who live in this neighborhood and who are home-owners to protect this neighborhood so that we can get home ownership back to a place that families could be proud of, communities can thrive, and everyone’s happy,” said King.
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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.
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The vultures are out trying to make a profit off of the distressed people’s back.
Huge sign on outside the 233rd st shopping mall about buying distressed homes.
Here’s a thought…how about rectifying the wrongs:
There is a double standard in this country where the little guy pays for his crimes while the hardened gold collared criminals are allowed to steal and pilfer without any consequences. The courts across the country are allowing forged and fabricated evidence to be used to steal homes in fraudulent foreclosures. Legal instruments authenticate ownership and outlined rights of both buyer and seller, but when banks resort to fabrication and forgery to create the illusion of ownership the entire system breaks down.When a loan servicer is able to steal a home by presenting forged documents and no proof that they paid for a loan; life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are violated.We recognize the long history and complex nature of the act of corruption, bribery, and fraud in government and among corporations. Corruption destroys the economy, faith in government and an individual’s freedom and right to due process.
Fannie Mae, in cahoots w/bank of america, (or as they prefer in their falsified assignments: fka Countrywide), KNOWINGLY LIED to the District Attorneys about modifications in regards to their ponzi scheme loans , and instead underhandedly, bundled up the loans AGAIN, but not before forging owner’s signatures on DOT’s and adding falsified stamped “ta-da” endorsements, fabricated assignments and then handed them over to others, such as Ditech (FKA GreenTree), who then handed the fabricated documents over to their handy dandy substitute less than “trusty” trustee attorneys (One example: Samuel I White ..attorneys formerly w/ Shapiro & Burson who Freddie supposedly Stopped using due to their widespread fraudulent practices…. who skipped and STILL are skipping to the courthouses across the country and turning in their fabricated evidence to foreclose on thousands of homeowners, who were NOTHING , but bamboozled from the start. But it’s ok because evil bank of america dished out anywhere from $300-$2000 per homeowner a few years ago as their hush hush punishment. Then the games began…lies about modifications, lies about trial payments, lies about lost modification applications….all to stall and then bundle them up again with the newfound forgeries and falsifications. But it’s ok because after Fannie Mae(hiding behind their handy dandy substitute trustees) kicks the defrauded homeowners to the curb, they’ll make up for it by selling the home to minorities or small time investors. Sorta like if a child molester rapes a child and then on the way home stops by the candy store to buy a gumball for a kid on the street. How pathetically evil! Anyone who believes the wall street bailout ended in 2008 is sadly and sorely mistaken.
There needs to be a solution to stopping the sale of a lien when the owner is in the process of securing bank loan or mortgage adjustment to stop a lien sale.. The home owner Loses when lien is sold May 15th and loan funds are received May 23rd….