LI groups get $100G to educate homeowners on foreclosure scams

Three Long Island community organizations will share $100,000 to educate homeowners at risk of being targeted by fraudulent foreclosure rescue schemes.

Long Island Housing Services in Bohemia will receive $50,000, the Hispanic Brotherhood of Rockville Centre will get $25,140, and La Fuerza Unida in Glen Cove, $24,860, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced Wednesday.

The money, part of a new state Foreclosure Rescue Scam Prevention Initiative, will help the organizations provide housing counseling and legal assistance to families trying to avoid foreclosure.

Schneiderman also announced an additional $20 million in funding for the state Homeowner Protection Program, which funds a range of services from help applying for loan modifications or assistance with budgeting, to determining whether a homeowner is eligible for compensation for wrongful foreclosure. The money comes from national settlements with mortgage lenders charged with foreclosing on homeowners without proper documentation.

The HOPP program has helped 70,000 families across the state avoid foreclosure since 2012, Schneiderman’s office said.

The Long Island education grants are part of $350,000 to be distributed in the metropolitan area, Amy Spitalnick, press secretary for the attorney general, said in an email Wednesday.

“Our office has been using predictive modeling to target this outreach and education to communities most vulnerable to foreclosure scams,” she said. “On Long Island, those communities include Brentwood, Bay Shore, Elmont, Valley Stream, Freeport, Hempstead, Central Islip, Uniondale, West Babylon and Lindenhurst.”