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.