Joint Legislative Hearing on the Crisis Facing Homeowners In Brooklyn

Senator Velmanette Montgomery, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and Assemblywoman Tremaine Wright were joined by Senator Robert Jackson, Senator Brian Kavanagh, Senator Kevin Parker, Assemblyman Nick Perry, Assemblyman Al Taylor for the Joint Legislative Hearing to Examine The Crisis Facing Homeowners in Brooklyn and throughout New York City.

Over 300 attendees heard testimony from homeowners, legal experts, foreclosure prevention advocates and stakeholders on issues such as the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s Third Party Transfer (TPT) Program and its impact on Housing Development Fund Corporations (HDFCs), redlining and predatory lending practices, deed theft and equity fraud, the devastating impact of municipal water and sewer liens, and the court system.

Testimony was provided by:

Michael Barbosa - Assistant Attorney General In Charge Brooklyn Regional Office, NYS Attorney General
Yolande I. Nicholson, Esq. - President, New York State Foreclosure Defense Bar
Dr. John Flateau – Executive Director, DuBois Bunche Center for Public Policy at Medgar Evers College
Sarah Ludwig – Founder & Co-Director, New Economy Project
Catherine Isobe - Senior Staff Attorney, Brooklyn Legal Services
Ivy Perez – Senior Policy & Research Associate, Center for NYC Neighborhoods
Julie Howe – Senior Staff Attorney Foreclosure Prevention Project, New York Legal Assistance Group
Ali Naini – Senior Staff Attorney, Mobilization for Justice
Demetrice Mills – President, Brooklyn Queens Land Trust
Judge Jeffrey Arlen Spinner, Attorney & Counsellor at Law
Lurie Daniel Favors – General Counsel, Center for Law & Social Justice at Medgar Evers College
Brenda Stokely – Co-Chair, Brooklyn HDFC Coalition, Lori Kelley – 111 Linden Street HDFC & Ayo Harrington - LES HDFC Alliance
Allyson Martinez – Co-Chair of Land Use Committee, Community Board 17
Enid Braun & Patrice M. Laing-Ejuwa – Brooklyn Homeowners
Richard Flateau - Chair, Community Board 3
Sarah A. Filcher – Senior Staff Attorney, Brooklyn Bar Association Volunteer Lawyers Project
Patrick Pyronneau – Supervising Attorney Foreclosure Prevention Program, CAMBA Legal Services
Scott Kohanowski – Project Director Home Stability Project, City Bar Justice Center

The hearing was co-sponsored in partnership with State Senator Brad Hoylman, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, State Senator Robert Jackson, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Cities, State Senator Kevin Parker, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy & Telecommunications, State Senator Brian A. Benjamin, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Revenue and Budget, State Senator Brian Kavanagh, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Housing, Construction & Community Development and Assemblymember Al Taylor, Chairman - Assembly Subcommittee on Regulated Mortgage Lenders.