Leader Observer Highlights QLS Foreclosure Prevention Unit

The Queens Leader Observer recently ran an article on the services offered by Queens Legal Services' (a program of Legal Services NYC) Foreclosure Prevention Unit, which provides free legal help to homeowners facing foreclosure,
including advice and representation in settlement conferences, in
negotiations with lenders, and in court proceedings. QLS Staff Attorney Franklin Romeo advised readers on what to do in the event that they fall behind on mortgage payments.

Franklin Romeo, a staff attorney for the organization, discussed the
group’s foreclosure project at last week’s meeting of Community Board
10 in South Ozone Park. He said that southeastern Queens has been among
the hardest hit neighborhoods in the country in the current foreclosure
crisis.

“There are a huge number of foreclosures in Queens,” he said.

Romeo
said that he and three other attorneys and a paralegal provide free
comprehensive legal services for Queens residents including housing
evictions, government benefits law, consumer law, family law,
foreclosure prevention, and help with citizenship.

Romeo advised
homeowners that if they have fallen behind in their mortgage payments
they should first try to negotiate with their lender a loan
modification. He said that the homeowner should not pay anybody for a
loan modification noting that there are numerous Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) approved nonprofit organizations that will provide
help for free.

“If somebody is trying to get money from you
for a loan modification, chances are very high what they are trying to
do is rip you off,” he said. “If you have been served with foreclosure
papers you should talk to an attorney.”

Read the full June 10th, 2010 article at www.leaderobserver.com.