This new $20 million brings Attorney General Schneiderman’s total investment in HOPP to $100 million since 2012.
On top of the new $20 million for HOPP, the Office of the Attorney General is committing another $350,000 in new grants through the Foreclosure Rescue Scam Prevention Effort to housing organizations across New York City, Long Island, and the Hudson Valley, where foreclosure rescue scams such as deed theft have been most prevalent. The grants will allow the Office of the Attorney General and its partners to connect New Yorkers most vulnerable to foreclosure scams with the vital HOPP programs underway across the state.
Since the Office of the Attorney General established the program in 2012, more than 70,000 families have received free, high-quality assistance to avoid foreclosure through HOPP, which has funded a statewide network of nearly 90 housing counseling and legal services organizations over the past four years.
The funding for HOPP and the Foreclosure Rescue Scam Prevention Initiative comes from bank settlements that Attorney General Schneiderman secured through the federal-state mortgage-backed securities working group, which President Obama appointed Attorney General Schneiderman to co-chair in 2012. To date, the Attorney General has secured more than $95 billion in bank settlements nationally, with $5.5 billion coming to New York State alone. That settlement money has been allocated toward a range of initiatives across the state to help communities recover from the housing crisis.
“New York has led the nation in developing innovative ways to address the fallout from the foreclosure crisis — including the Homeowner Protection Program, so folks wouldn’t lose their homes because they didn’t have access to an attorney,” said Attorney General Schneiderman. “Now, with foreclosure rescue scams on the rise, we are enhancing HOPP’s capacity to empower our most vulnerable homeowners to avoid becoming victims of these scams.”
Foreclosure rescue scams target vulnerable homeowners and, for an upfront fee, generally promise to save their homes by negotiating lower mortgage payments or principal reductions with the homeowners’ mortgage servicers or lenders. After collecting upfront fees, these scam operations fail to provide the services promised, placing their victims at even greater risk of foreclosure. In some instances, scammers actually convince the homeowners to sign over the title to their home.
“Thanks to this new initiative from AG Schneiderman, other people won’t be victimized the way we were,” said Joseph Clarke, whose home was the target of a foreclosure rescue scam.
“Getting early information out to vulnerable homeowners will help prevent others from experiencing the kind of heartache we went through. AG Schneiderman’s Homeowner Protection Program has enabled us to receive free legal representation from Brooklyn Legal Services—our attorney stopped the eviction proceedings against us and is fighting in court to get our home back.”
To protect yourself from becoming a victim of a foreclosure rescue scam, the Attorney General offered the following tips. New Yorkers can visit AGScamHelp.com or call 1-855-HOME-456 for more information.
- Be skeptical of online ads or telephone callers that promise they can get you a mortgage modification or save your home from foreclosure. Only your bank or loan servicer can approve a loan modification.
- Visit AGScamHelp.com to determine if a company is legitimate.
- Do not give your personal financial information, such as your bank account number, social security number or the name of your loan servicer, to a caller offering to help save you from foreclosure. Your bank will already have this information.
- Never pay an up-front fee for mortgage-related services. It is a violation of New York law to charge upfront fees for such services, and violations should be reported to the Attorney General’s hotline at 1-855-HOME-456.
- If you believe you have been scammed by a foreclosure rescue operator or a debt relief organization, submit a complaint to the New York State Attorney General’s Office: ag.NY.gov/consumer-frauds/Filing-a-Consumer-Complaint
