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» VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM 77 NEW YORK Time and Policy to Heal New York Foreclosure Backlog e foreclosure crisis and the ensuing zom- bie home invasion in New York have improved markedly in the last few years thanks to the passing of both time and policies. Foreclosure filings across the state are down 46 percent since 2013, according to a report from the state comptroller. Similarly, the number of pending foreclosure cases in the state are down by half since 2014. However, New York State Comptroller omas P. DiNapoli warned that the foreclo- sure crisis "was far from over" and "New York must continue to support the programs and reforms that have helped homeowners avoid foreclosure and communities reduce blight caused by zombie properties." After experiencing heightened foreclosures, a court backlog, and an onslaught of zombie properties—where the home becomes vacant before foreclosure is complete—New York responded with many new policies aimed at helping homeowners avoid foreclosure, as well as aiding courts process foreclosures, and returning zombie properties to the land of the living. e state has enacted several changes to the foreclosure process in courts. For example, it created the Vacant and Abandoned Property sector of the court to speed up the judicial review when dealing with these properties. e foreclosure process has also been further standardized to ensure consistency and easier tracking. Another court-related change has to do with the transfer of deeds and titles in cases of divorce to help homeowners avoid foreclo- sure during or after divorce. Other changes New York made have to do with borrower communication, "primar- ily in the form of better and more consistent communication about the foreclosure process and homeowners' rights and responsibilities," according to the report. Also, New York has worked to eradicate zombie properties through the use of land banks, which are nonprofits that acquire zombie homes and work to "return them to productive use." As of 2017, land banks had acquired nearly 2,000 problem properties and returned $28.4 million in assessed value to the tax rolls, according to the report. e state is set to add 10 more land banks. e state also created the New York State Community Restoration fund to purchase distressed mortgages in areas with high fore- closure rates with the intent to either provide loan modification for borrowers or repair and sell the homes to new owners. With the help of these policies, the New York housing market has experienced improvement with the foreclosure rate falling in every part of the state over the past few years. In mid-2014, 18 counties in the state had foreclosure rates above 1 percent and four had a rate above 2 percent. As of mid-2018, only four counties had foreclosure rates above 1 percent, and 38 counties had rates below 0.50 percent, the report indicated. While acknowledging the significant improvements, DiNapoli sees potential threats on the horizon. "Housing advocates have warned that proposed cuts in State funding for homeowner protection programs could—if implemented—also undermine or even reverse the progress made," DiNapoli said in his report. Is Modular Construction the Way of the Future? ere's something different about the red and grey 32-story apartment building in Brooklyn overlooking Barclays Center. e bright modern residences at 461 Dean weren't constructed where we see the shining build- ing today; they were constructed in a factory, transported to the site, and assembled. is building in New York City is the world's tallest modular tower. While modular construction—in which structures are created offsite in manufactur- ing facilities and transported and assembled later—makes up only a small minority of today's construction, it is gaining notice as a potential solution to today's housing shortage and high housing and construction costs. Despite some experimentation in the past, including development by famous archi- tect Frank Lloyd Wright, modular housing makes up just 2 percent of single-family home construction and 3 percent of multifamily construction today, according to an article in the National Review. Modular housing could help reduce construction time by half and construc- tion costs by 10 to 20 percent. Instead of the nearly 22 separate types of professionals that contribute to traditional home construction, a smaller force of workers can build housing in a climate-controlled facility. GET YOUR DAILY DOSE OF DEFAULT SERVICING NEWS Start your day with the most current and critical news on the mortgage default servicing industry from DSNews.com. Sign up for our e-mail newsletter and get the top stories delivered direct to your inbox every day. Register to receive your Daily Dose at DSNews.com GET YOUR DAILY DOSE OF DEFAULT SERVICING NEWS Start your day with the most current and critical news on the mortgage default servicing industry from DSNews.com. Sign up for our email newsletter and get the top stories delivered direct to your inbox every day. Register to receive your Daily Dose at DSNews.com

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