LEGAL AID SOCIETY OF ROCKLAND COUNTY RECEIVES FORECLOSURE PREVENTION FUNDING

The Legal Aid Society of Rockland County, Inc., has been awarded $256,000 in funding from the New York State Attorney General’s Homeowner Protection Program to assist Rockland County residents facing foreclosure.

"The funding is critically needed," said Alexander Bursztein, the Executive Director of the Legal Aid Society, based in New City.  "This grant will help us to protect the rights of homeowners in Rockland County.  With this funding, we can make sure that the banks treat our clients fairly and help stabilize our neighborhoods by ensuring that homeowners have every possible opportunity to modify their mortgages and stay in their homes."  He noted that the foreclosure crisis is not  over in  Rockland.   "Our foreclosure caseloads continue to rise."  In 2013 alone, the Legal Aid Society has taken on nearly three hundred new foreclosure cases for struggling Rockland homeowners.

 "This grant, while critical, is not enough.  It will help us continue foreclosure work, but so much of what we do remains seriously underfunded," said Bursztein.  He cited landlord-tenant cases and public benefits among the critical needs.  "We protect tenants, defend against wrongful  evictions and take on  slumlords  when conditions are deplorable.  We help families obtain the unemployment and other benefits when they're wrongfully denied.  And at the same time that the economic downturn created a greater need for our services, the funding is drying up."   Among the financial challenges he noted was a shift in state funding from Rockland to Westchester-based Legal Services of the Hudson Valley.  "We've been here since 1966 and we know the Rockland community.  We're in court every day representing children in Family Court, giving them a voice in the cases that impact their very lives.  We represent families seeking access to life's most basic necessities.  This grant from the Attorney General's office is critical for our foreclosure work.   Additional funding will ensure that we can continue to help Rockland families in need."

The Legal Aid Society of Rockland County is a private, nonprofit law firm serving children and  lower-income residents of Rockland County.  To find out more about the Legal Aid Society, call (845) 634-3627, or visit their website at www.legalaidrockland.org.