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banks blamed for foreclosure surGe
CRYSTAL KAMG
INSIDE
September 30, 2013 | VOL. 49, No. 39
ROLLING ALONG • 13
BY JOHN GOLDEN jgolden@westfairinc.com
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recent Cooper Union graduate Torey Thornton’s art pieces inside her van at the Riverfront Green Park in Peekskill, overlooking the Hudson River. The Brooklyn-based artist brought collages made from cat hair mounted on wooden panels and created pieces using acrylic and spray paints.
oreclosure filings by home mortgage lenders have risen dramatically this year in Westchester County. The 1,910 court filings through August against borrowers in default represent a 62 percent increase from that same period last year. Foreclosure judgments that awarded properties to lenders rose 44 percent for the same period. Residential brokers and attorneys in Westchester who represent homeowners struggling or unable to meet their mortgage payments said they expect the surge of foreclosure actions to continue for at least two years. Most point to uncooperative bank lenders as the cause. “The jump in the foreclosures is not surprising to me,” said Julie A. Curley, an attorney in White Plains who represents debtors in bankruptcy, foreclosure and mortgage defense and mortgage loan modifications. “Last year and even leading up to last year, we had the increase in mortgage modifications.” That was largely driven by the new federal Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) and the National Mortgage Settlement, in which the country’s five largest mortgage servicers agreed to a $25 billion settlement, $20 billion of which was to be used for direct mortgage relief and refinancings for homeowners. Yet banks that were required to work out mortgage reductions with qualifying homeowners “seemed very reluctant to do that,” said Curley, a partner at DelBello Donnellan Weingarten Wise
Artist, page 6
Foreclosure, page 6
SPECIAL CARE • 23
NEWS NOON @
Sign up now at westfaironline.com Elise Graham
Yorktown artist takes her gallery for a spin BY CRYSTAL KANG ckang@westfairinc.com
wheN YorKtowN artist Elise Graham puts together her art exhibits, she’s not looking to set up shop inside a museum or gallery. Instead, she creates her own space inside a retrofitted 12-foot step van, serving as a mobile art gallery. She takes Rodi Gallery, a 2006 Ford Utilimaster van, to the burgeoning art districts throughout the Hudson Valley. There, she presents the works of undiscovered artists. Two weekends ago, Graham, 56, showcased