The NY State Foreclosure Assistance Van arrived in Spring Valley Wednesday morning to help Rockland County residents facing foreclosure of their homes or dealing with predatory mortgage lenders.  Those are problems that thousands of homeowners throughout the county are facing and tens of thousands in the Hudson Valley.

Senator David Carlucci said there are close to 5,000 Rockland County homeowners who are in the foreclosure process or close to it.  He and other government officials asked the state Department of Financial Services to deploy the foreclosure relief van in the county.  Spring Valley was selected as the location because it has the highest number of residents being hit with foreclosure proceedings.

“We wanted to have it right here in Rockland County to get people the services, the information that they need to help make sure they don’t fall into foreclosure and if they are in foreclosure already that they get the legal help and the assistance they need to make sure that it is a painless process,” said Carlucci.

George Haggerty, the department’s executive deputy superintendent for Real Estate Finance, said Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the formation of the Foreclosure Relief Unit in January.  The mobile command center's foreclosure prevention specialists assist homeowners with foreclosure issues and those who are at risk of foreclosure.  The van, which will remain in Spring Valley until 7 p.m., is also deployed for disaster assistance.

Haggerty noted there are a number of programs available to help and urged people to come in and get screened and receive assistance early in the process. About 150 people were assisted at the van's last stop and completing an application takes about 10 minutes. 

Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee said Rockland ranks seventh in the number of foreclosures out of the 62 counties in the state. Jaffee, who represents the 95^th District, said she will ask state officials to return the mobile command center to Rockland once they assess how many people were assisted.

“Because the more information that people have in our community there will be less numbers in terms of the foreclosures that occur and that will be so helpful to so many in our community, in the neighborhoods,” she said.

Spring Valley Mayor Noramie Jasmin said the village has hundreds of residents suffering due to the foreclosure crisis.  She said many of those affected do not speak English as their first language and did not understand what was happening. She expressed hope that the expertise provide by the state would help save people’s homes.

Carlucci explained the foreclosure crisis is not limited to the impacted homeowners.  He said the estimated 5,000 homes represent $10 million in property taxes that could be lost and up to $1 billion of property value.

“There is no community in Rockland that has been able to escape this crisis,” said Carlucci. 

Carlucci noted up to 38,000 homeowners in the Hudson Valley are facing foreclosure. Homeowners threatened with foreclosure can call the department's hotline at 800-269-0990 or 518-457-1654 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

The command center can run on generator power and the computer network can utilize satellite or cellular service. Nikki Brate, manager of technical service, said the unit can be up and running within 12 to 15 minutes.  She said homeowners can file applications for assistance within minutes and there are five workstations inside the van. Residents can also file complaints against predatory lenders.