Real Estate
The Law Offices of Joseph A. Chang & Associates, LLC have attorneys with the experience and knowledge necessary to represent you in any type of transactional matter in New York and New Jersey. Additionally, we have successfully represented clients in the Chancery Division where emergency foreclosure matters are frequently heard. Today foreclosure defense work and foreclosure mediation is a hot topic and the firm’s attorneys are Court Certified Foreclosure Mediators in addition to being Certified Mediators for Civil Matters and Matrimonial Matters.
We have obtained excellent results in cases involving:
Order to show cause: in both owner/borrower vs. Lender and tenant situations where the Lender is either in the foreclosure process or the Lender has already completed the foreclosure process and is now in the process of evicting the homeowner and/or tenants.
- Real Estate Transactions: Commercial and Residential, purchases, sales, shortsale purchases
- Lease preparation: Commercial and Residential
- Note and Mortgages
- Landlord Tenant Actions: Commercial and Residential
About Real Estate Law
In today’s real estate market any delay in the closing process, however minor, can raise tensions between the parties and may end up resulting in litigation. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that extra care be taken during the attorney review period so that provisions that are absolutely necessary get clearly written but more importantly become agreed to by both parties. Keep in mind that realtors can’t make judgments on legal questions. For example, what if your prospective new home has an illegal in-law unit, including an existing tenant whom you want to evict in order to rent the place to a friend? Only a lawyer can tell you with any certainty whether your plans are feasible. Or, if you’re drafting any unusual language for the purchase contract, or are concerned about some language in your mortgage, you may want to have an attorney look the documents over.
Foreclosure Mediation
As a Certified Foreclosure Mediator I understand how stressful it is to go through this process, most clients were first time homebuyers that were simply swept up in the irrational exuberance of the last few years. The first step is education, the internet is chockfull of good information, however this does not take the place of a licensed experienced attorney, specially when there is so much on the line. Below please find an informative press release found on the judiciary’s website (link found below). So call us today at one of our two locations to set up your free appointment.
Judiciary Announces Foreclosure Mediation Program
to Assist Homeowners at Risk of Losing Their Homes
Chief Justice Stuart Rabner today announced the roll-out of a statewide Judiciary program to assist homeowners in foreclosure actions. The program will provide mediators to help homeowners and lenders negotiate with one another and try to work out agreements to avoid foreclosures.
Chief Justice Rabner said, “While the courts must remain neutral in all foreclosure matters, it is in everyone’s best interest to have a forum where homeowners facing foreclosure have the opportunity to negotiate to save their homes. Our goal is to get lenders and borrowers to meet at the table and work out a mutually beneficial arrangement. I encourage continued cooperation among the courts, lenders, borrowers, and the bar as we address the increasing number of foreclosure actions in New Jersey in today’s difficult economic times.”
Under the program, the courts will require mediation in all cases in which homeowners contest owner-occupied foreclosure actions. Volunteer mediators will meet with eligible homeowners and their lenders in an effort to resolve the foreclosure action and renegotiate the terms of mortgage agreements.
In uncontested actions, where the homeowner has failed to respond to a foreclosure complaint, the courts will notify the homeowner of the mediation program and encourage participation. If the homeowner fails to respond and a default judgment is entered, mediation will remain an option before the matter proceeds to a sheriff’s sale.
The Chief Justice praised Middlesex Vicinage Assignment Judge Travis L. Francis for spearheading an innovative pilot project on foreclosure mediation. The program is operating in the Middlesex Vicinage, where volunteers from the Middlesex County Bar Association are providing free mediation services for homeowners facing foreclosure. General Equity Presiding Judge Frank M. Ciuffani has been working closely with representatives from the bar, Legal Services, and other agencies to build awareness of the program.
“The worst thing a homeowner facing a foreclosure action can do is nothing. It is critical to let homeowners know that even after a default action has been entered, there may still be a window of opportunity for borrowers and banks to work out an agreement that will avoid a sheriff’s sale,” said Judge Francis.
The Judiciary will expand Middlesex’s model mediation program throughout the state in the coming months. In the next 30 days, the program will be expanded to Essex, Union, Ocean, Camden, Bergen, and Hudson counties, which had the highest number of recent foreclosure filings. Within 60 days, the project will be in place in all 21 counties.
During the past 12 months, the courts received 46,130 residential foreclosure filings, a 46 percent increase from the previous 12 months, when 31,667 filings were received.
In September 2008, the courts received 3,997 residential foreclosure filings, compared to 1,400 filings in September 2006.
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