NYSFDB is a voice for the promotion of legislation, regulation and policies that encourage and provide incentives for homeownership — that homeownership continues as a vital component of the American dream and economy.  The preservation and protection of homeownership helps to maintain viable, stable neighborhoods by ensuring that homeowners have a vested stake in their communities.  Through NYSFDB’s mission to protect and promote the legal rights of property owners, NYSFDB has joined in calls for the application of due process and the equal protection of homeowners in courts across New York State.  NYSFDB supports initiatives to stabilize hardest-hit communities.
 

NYSFDB was organized in response to the unprecedented foreclosure crisis that followed the burst of the 2003-2007 U.S. housing bubble, the impact that the Wall Street Credit Crisis of 2008 had on Main Street America, and the record rates of high unemployment and loss-of-income among working families during the ongoing Great Recession.  These crises effectively eliminated the ability of a high percentage of property owners to meet their high monthly mortgage payments.  Foreclosure filings in New York State doubled to 50,000 from 2007 to 2008, became stable in 2010, fell dramatically in 2011 when courts, the Judiciary and New York State Chief Justice Jonathan Lippman imposed standards for foreclosure filings, judgments and auctions to avoid fraud on the courts and litigants.  These standards were created to ensure that real property was not being “taken” through foreclosures with disregard for due process, equitable principles, and legal standards and precedents embodied in New York law dating back to the early 1800s.  The need for attention to and application of these standards continue today, in 2016.
 

All attorneys on NYSFDB's Board of Directors have provided active defense representation to homeowners  from the onset of the foreclosure crisis in 2008.  Since the inception of the Bar in 2011, its member attorneys have represented homeowners in thousands of cases across New York State.  NYSFDB members shall be required to zealously represent New York State property owners who are facing foreclosure, or who are losing or have lost title to their properties through fraudulent or illegal foreclosure actions and evictions; and to be advocates for the application of the standards and principles embodied in New York State's real property laws, and the civil practice law and rules (with emphasis on CPLR 3408 and CPLR 2106).  NYSFDB members shall strive to make certain that homeowners and their tenants have access to, and secure the benefits of, New York State’s foreclosure prevention and consumer protection laws, and related programs.
 

The commitment and integrity of the work and advocacy of NYSFDB leadership members have secured the trust and collaboration of services like Legal Services of New York (LSYNY), Brooklyn Legal Services (formerly Bedford Stuyvesant Legal Services and South Brooklyn Legal Services), Brooklyn A Legal Services, New York City Justice Center's Foreclosure Prevention Center, Grow Brooklyn, and attorney-referees and judicial hearing officers who preside over foreclosure settlement conferences in actions before the Supreme Courts of the State of New York.  NYSFDB was instrumental in the initiatives and development of the collaborative working group of non profit legal service providers, private attorneys and housing counselors now known as Brooklyn Advocates. 

 

Emboldened by the examples and spirit of legislation enacted by the New York State Legislature in 2006 to protect homeowners from predatory lending, and the tenets articulated by former Governor David Paterson on expanding CPLR 3408 in 2009 to capture all homeowners in distress, NYSFDB is an advocate for the enactment of additional laws and, separately, the provision of funding and development of programs that promote property ownership and retention of homeownership by American families.