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Overcast Assemblyman introduces foreclosure relief
Brian Curran says bureaucratic red-tape is causing foreclosure threats
Assemblyman Brian Curran (Lynbrook-21st A.D.) announced last week that he has introduced legislation to provide eligible homeowners in areas of New York State affected by Superstorm Sandy with more time to receive their entitled funds during foreclosure proceedings.
Curran initiated this legislation, he said, because the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and NY Rising, a reconstruction program for victims of Hurricane Irene and Sandy, have taken too long to provide initial, necessary or adequate awards to homeowners looking to rebuild their homes.
“We are approaching the three-year anniversary of Superstorm Sandy and we still have families, some with vacant properties, who are being foreclosed on,” said Curran. “If these families received the necessary and adequate funds for rebuilding their homes in the first place, their properties wouldn’t be foreclosed on. Our homeowners simply need more time to appeal the original receipt of funds in the event, especially when, is more often than not, the first influx of funds is wrong or inadequate. The bureaucracy and red tape in this process is drastically failing our Long Island families who are certainly not at fault for the act of nature that destroyed their livelihoods. This legislation will give them more time to acquire the funds they require.”
Curran said the legislation has been introduced but there is not yet a bill number. He noted that in the past, when FEMA or NY Rising has given an award to qualified homeowners, the award is either wrong or inadequate based on the paperwork that had been filed. He said that homeowners have no choice then but to appeal this award for more funds, which takes more time, while banks want to foreclose on the property.
“This legislation is for the victims who still haven’t rebuilt from Sandy,” said Curran. “It’s very tragic and embarrassing that rebuilding has taken this long and that families are having empty property lots foreclosed on because they lack adequate funding. I will certainly be pushing for the passage of this legislation when we return to Albany for either a special session of the legislature or the new 2016 Legislative Session.”
