MFY attorney Chantal Hernandez won an important victory for homeowners in foreclosure with a decision by the Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department that holds that a bank’s failure to follow federal government regulations constitutes a failure to negotiate in good faith. The court also agreed that tolling of interest on the mortgage while the bank …

MFY filed a groundbreaking lawsuit on behalf of a Queens homeowner who paid thousands of dollars in fees to a company that promised a loan modification and legal services but provided nothing. The New York Post describes the suit, the first of its kind filed in the city under the distressed property consultant law.

MFY’s vigorous advocacy to end the foreclosure “shadow docket” led to a new law signed today by Governor Cuomo to end this abusive practice.  MFY’s 2011 report, Justice Deceived, showed how homeowners were prevented from getting loan modifications because lenders’ attorneys failed to file documents to move their cases to the settlement part. Read more.

MFY Legal Services called upon Governor Andrew Cuomo to sign a law passed by the New York State Legislature that will end the shadow docket in foreclosure cases by requiring lenders’ attorneys to certify the legitimacy of their cases when they first file foreclosure papers. MFY’s two white papers, Justice Deceived (2011) and Justice Unsettled …

MFY has retained the ACLU to represent it in an administrative FOIA appeal.  On April 24, 2013, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) refused to disclose consumers’ complaints narratives and CFPB’s follow-up to the complaints under FOIA’s privacy exemption (Exemption 6) in response to MFY’s inquiry.  In its appeal, the ACLU has challenged such a …

MFY clients Joyce Harden and Melissa Jaime, both victims of improper foreclosure procedures by Wells Fargo, are featured in news reports around NYS Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s announcement of legal action against major banks for violating the national mortgage settlement agreement.