Faced with a 150 percent increase in foreclosures since January 2005, Chief Judge of Judith Kaye has set up a pilot program in Queens to find out if a dedicated foreclosure court is necessary to handle these types of cases.  One part of the plan, which will be voluntary, is a settlement conference to help alert the borrower to possible options.

“New Yorkers are losing their homes in record numbers,” the judge said at a Manhattan news conference announcing the program. “Some neighborhoods are being ravaged by foreclosures. Can we be part of an influence for the good?”

This is good news for consumers who are going into, or are already in, foreclosure.  The judges hearing there cases will be more attuned to the subtle nuances of foreclosure defense, including the complex securitization aspects of how mortgages are transferred, packaged and sold.  This will give homeowners a better chance at defending foreclosures and ensuring a more just result.

A foreclosure lawyer is a rare find; up until recently, foreclosures typically went through without the consumer standing up for his or her rights.  But foreclosure defense has become a more crowded field due to the current tidal wave of foreclosures.

So how do you choose a foreclosure lawyer?  Very carefully.

A good foreclosure lawyer will have knowledge not only of the Truth-In-Lending Act, Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, and state law, but will also be an active member of the foreclosure defense bar.  The most active of these groups is the National Association of Consumer Advocates, a national group of lawyers working to increase the quality of consumer protection.

With this constantly evolving field, it’s easy to be left in the dust and miss out on new developments in the law.  Just a few years ago nobody had thought of the issue of standing in foreclosure defense cases, but now the best-educated lawers out there know full well why this is important and how to use it to a consumer’s advantage.

So, too, with the issue of securitization.  Though a common means of packaging and selling mortgage loans for a deade or more, this convoluted scheme has come to the forefront only recently.  Lawyers who have studied securitization and understand it completely will be best equipped to defend a foreclosure case.

Remember, this is your home - don’t take a shortcut when hiring a foreclosure lawyer to protect your interests.