In the early morning hours Saturday, June 18, 2016, the NY State Legislature passed S8159, a bill that would require servicers to maintain vacant and abandoned property that they do not own, for the many years that a foreclosure takes in the state of New York. Federally and state chartered depositories are exempt from the requirement if they either originate, own, service, or maintain their mortgages, or a portion thereof; and have less than 3/10 of 1% of the total loans in the state which they either originate, own, service or maintain.
Lenders/servicers will be required to inspect properties within 90 days of delinquency to determine delinquency, and continue to inspect every 25-30 days. Within 7 days of determining the property is vacant, the lender/servicer must post a notice on the property stating that they are maintaining the property, and provide a phone number to call. If there is no response from the borrower within 7 calendar days of posting, the lender servicer must secure and begin maintaining the property. The lender/servicer may not remove any of the borrower’s personal property. There is a $500 per day fine for non-compliance.
The legislation also includes: a requirement to notify delinquent borrowers that they may stay in the property throughout the foreclosure process; a requirement for the NYSDFS to publish a Consumer Bill of Rights; a requirement for a lender/servicer who acquires a property through a judgment of foreclosure to place a property back on the market for sale within 180 days of the deed of sale or within 90 days of renovation of the property, whichever occurs first; extension of ” workout” options in the mandatory settlement conference; an expedited foreclosure process for vacant and abandoned property, if the borrowers fails to appear at the mandatory settlement conference; and technical changes to the STAR Personal Income Tax Credit.
For full text of the bill, click HERE.