Senator Fuschillo, Mayor Hardwick & Department of Financial Services Bring Foreclosure Prevention Program to Freeport

     Photo caption: Senator Fuschillo (left) and Mayor Hardwick (right) are pictured with Department of Financial Services Executive Deputy Superintendent George Haggerty (center) in front of the Department’s mobile foreclosure prevention center, which came to Freeport to provide assistance to homeowners.

     Senator Charles J. Fuschillo, Jr. (R-Merrick), Freeport Mayor Andrew Hardwick, and the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) today teamed up to provide services to homeowners facing foreclosure.

     Senator Fuschillo and Mayor Hardwick arranged for DFS to bring the Department’s Mobile Command Center to the Village of Freeport, where trained DFS specialists provided individualized assistance to homeowners in need.

     “It's important for families who are struggling to stay in their homes to remember that there are services available to help them. This free program enabled residents to speak one-on-one with trained specialists, ask questions, and learn about services to help them stay in their homes. I’m pleased that we were able to offer this important service to local residents,” said Senator Fuschillo.

     As part of the program, DFS specialists spoke one-on-one with homeowners and assessed where they were in the pre-foreclosure or foreclosure process; informed them about specific loan modification programs which may be available to them; and offered guidance on how they can file complaints with the Department so that suspected cases of lender or mortgage servicer abuses, such as predatory lending practices, can be investigated.

     Homeowners who were unable to take advantage of the program but are in need of assistance can call DFS’ toll free foreclosure hotline at 1-800-269-0990 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday or visit the Department’s website, www.dfs.ny.gov.