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76 New York RANK: 2 90+ Day Foreclosure Unemployment Delinquency Rate Rate Rate MARCH 2015 2.43% 4.02% 5.7 YEAR AGO 2.73% 5.14% 6.6 YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -11.1% -21.8% -0.9 Top County SULLIVAN COUNTY 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate MARCH 2015 2.59% 2.11% YEAR AGO 2.93% 1.78% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -11.6% 18.9% Top Core-Based Statistical Area AMSTERDAM, NY 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate MARCH 2015 4.23% 8.26% YEAR AGO 4.60% 8.82% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -8.0% -6.3% note: The 90+ day delinquecy rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans that are seriously delinquent. The foreclosure rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans currently in foreclosure. State rank is based on the March 2015 foreclosure rate. All fi gures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate refl ects preliminary March 2015 fi gures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of LPS Data & Analytics. New York Todd Yovino Broker/Owner Island Advantage Realty, LLC Metropolitan New York and Long Island's Default Specialist for Over 26 Years Todd@iarny.com | 631-820-3400 www.islandadvantage.com IN THE NEWS Report: Morgan Stanley, New York AG Discussing $500 Million RMBS Settlement Morgan Stanley is currently in discus- sions with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's office to pay $500 million to settle claims that the investment firm misrepresented the quality of residential mortgage-backed securities it sold to inves- tors, according to multiple media reports. Citing "people familiar with the matter," the Wall Street Journal said in a recent report that Morgan Stanley would likely pay a fine in addition to providing some amount of redress to struggling homeowners that would amount to more than half the settle- ment total. e report said that an agreement is not imminent, however, and that the discussion terms had changed since it was originally reported in early March that Morgan Stanley and Schneiderman's office were discussing a settlement. While consumer relief would make up more than half the settlement total, the form in which that relief is provided was not clear, according to the report. e New York AG's office announced on January 13 that it planned to file a lawsuit against Morgan Stanley under the Martin Act, a New York law that allows the state's AG to file such suits with regards to financial fraud. e suit in this case is over alleged omissions of material information for 30 sub- prime securitizations on the part of Morgan Stanley, calling into question the investment firm's due diligence, underwriting, and valua- tion processes, according to reports. According to the financial firm's regula- tory filing, the firm disagrees with the allega- tions and has presented Schneiderman's office with defenses. Morgan Stanley, a worldwide invest- ment firm headquartered in New York, has had ongoing legal troubles in the last year or so with regards to its sales of RMBS prior to the financial crisis, resulting in a series of settlements totaling hundreds of millions. In late February, Morgan Stanley made an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice to pay $2.6 billion to resolve similar claims regarding the handling of residential mortgage-backed securities. In mid-February, the firm made a mo- tion in the New York Supreme Court to dismiss two lawsuits filed by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) accusing the firm of failing to buy back $2.5 billion worth of faulty residential mortgage-backed securities. In February 2014, the firm settled a sepa- rate lawsuit filed by FHFA for $1.25 billion over the selling of faulty RMBS to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during the run-up to the financial crisis. New York AG Officially Introduces Expanded Bill to Fight Zombie Foreclosures New York Attorney General Eric Schnei- derman has introduced an expanded version of the Abandoned Property Neighborhood Relief Act, which he introduced last year in order to cut down on the number of "zombie properties"—vacant homes not maintained during the long foreclosure process—in the state. e modified bill is intended to expedite the foreclosure process on vacant properties and direct money collected for noncompli- ance of the law into a fund used to enforce the law, according to Schneiderman's announce- ment. "New York will never be able to fully recover from the devastation of the finan- cial crisis until we seriously reckon with the crisis of zombies," Schneiderman said. "e Abandoned Property Neighborhood Relief Act, which enjoys the support of local elected officials, law enforcement, and fair housing advocates all across New York, will equip our local communities with the resources they need to halt the spread of abandoned and vacant homes. Albany can finally alleviate the burden that these blighted properties impose on our towns and cities by passing the Abandoned Property Neighborhood Relief Act during this legislative session." e expanded bill requires mortgagees to provide homeowners with early notice that they are legally entitled to remain in their homes until the foreclosure process is com- plete (until a court orders them to leave), since many homeowners are unaware that they do not have to leave the house immediately when the foreclosure process begins. e bill also makes it illegal for a mortgagee to enter an occupied property and intimidate, harass, coerce, or otherwise induce the occupant to leave, which would render the property vacant. e bill requires mortgagees to take responsibility for maintenance of vacant properties soon after they are vacated and not at the end of the foreclosure process, as called for by the current law. Mortgagees would be required to identify, secure, and maintain vacant and abandoned properties in addition to paying for the upkeep of those properties. Also, the new bill would require mortgages and loan servicing agencies to periodically

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