Legal News

Does New York Need a Foreclosure Court? Chief Judge Kaye Thinks So

By Dan Slater

Judith Kaye, New York’s Chief Judge, is taking the state’s housing woes into her own hands.

At a news conference yesterday, Judge Kaye cited data showing that foreclosure filings across NY have jumped 150% since 2005. In Queens, she said, that figure is 223%, with an additional increase of 40% expected by the end of this year.

That’s why Judge Kaye is launching a new court to help borrowers and lenders reach settlements. The program, reports the NYT, could help keep people in their homes, or, short of that, ease the foreclosure process.

Here’s how it would work: Homeowners would be notified almost immediately that they face a foreclosure proceeding; they would receive a list of legal and foreclosure counselors who can help them; and they would be invited to court for a settlement conference. Parts of the program, reports the NYT, would be voluntary. The court would encourage, but not require, a settlement conference, and lenders would still be able to foreclose. A pilot version of the program is scheduled to start in Queens this summer.

“New Yorkers are losing their homes in record numbers,” Judge Kaye reportedly said at yesterday’s news conference in Lower Manhattan. “Some neighborhoods are being ravaged by foreclosures. Can we be part of an influence for the good?”

PHOTO: Associated Press

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on June 19, 2008 (boomark / email).