Instructions for Filing a 90-day Pre-foreclosure Notice With the New York Department of Financial Services

A. INTRODUCTION:

The 2009 Mortgage Foreclosure Law requires each lender, assignee or mortgage loan servicer to file with the Superintendent of Financial Services, within three business days after mailing the 90-day pre-foreclosure notice for residential real property or cooperative apartments, certain information that will aid the Department in assisting borrowers at risk of foreclosure. This includes the name, address and last known telephone number of the borrower, the amount claimed as due and owing on the mortgage, and any other information the Superintendent may require to determine the type of loan product.

The Superintendent may subsequently request such readily available information as may be reasonably necessary to facilitate a review of whether a borrower might benefit from counseling or other foreclosure prevention services.

The information collected shall be used by the Superintendent for the following purposes:

• monitor on a statewide basis the extent of foreclosure filings within the state;
• perform an analysis of loan types which were the subject of a pre-foreclosure notice; and
• to direct as appropriate available public and private foreclosure prevention services to borrowers at risk of foreclosure.

The filing must be on a form prescribed by the Superintendent.  Information filed under this section is not subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Law or to certain provisions of the Personal Privacy Protection Law.

Information on how to obtain a userid and password

B. THREE PART FILING PROCESS:

The Department of Financial Services has developed a three-part filing process.

Step 1 requires a filing within three business days after mailing a 90-day pre-foreclosure notice and is designed to capture the most relevant information necessary to understand the terms of the mortgage and make contact with the borrower. The purpose of this initial step is to provide sufficient information to facilitate outreach efforts by housing counselors to individual borrowers.

Step 2 requires a filing within five business days after filing a lis pendens and will capture more detailed information on the original loan, lender and lien holder. This information will be valuable in the Department’s analysis of the mortgage crisis and in targeting outreach efforts. Lenders, servicers and assignees have until Friday, November 12th, to file information on lis pendens filed prior to late October when the Department's system began accepting filings. Step 2 filings are only required for loans that have already been entered into the system during Step 1.

Step 3 requires a filing within thirty days of entry of the Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale. This information will be valuable to the Department in monitoring the extent of actual foreclosures across the state. Step 3 filings are only required for loans that received a 90-day pre-foreclosure notice on or after February 13, 2010 and have already been entered into the system during Step 1 and Step 2.

C: FILING ELECTRONICALLY:

Individual Filings:

For individual filings, filers must complete all required fields. Once the filing for Step 1 has been submitted through the system with all required fields, a tracking number will be e-mailed directly to the e-mail address identified in the first section of the filing.

Bulk Filings:

For Step 1 Bulk filings, filers must generate ASCII delimited text files as prescribed in 'Step 1 Bulk Filing Directions’ and upload them to the system as attachments. Please use unique file names for each submission by concatenating the first 15 letters of your company name, the form type and the date stamp (example: SERVICERCOMPANYSTEPA02112010.txt.)

• Step 1 Bulk Filing Directions (PDF)

For Step 2 Bulk files must be generated as per 'Step 2 Bulk Filing Directions’ and uploaded to the system as attachments. Please use unique file names for each submission by concatenating the first 15 letters of your company name, the form type and the date stamp (example: SERVICERCOMPANYSTEP2HDR02112010.txt or SERVICERCOMPANYSTEP2DTL02112010.txt.)

• Step 2 Record Layout (PDF)
• Step 2 Bulk Filing Instructions
• Step 2 Flow Chart (PDF)

For Step 3, no Bulk files will be accepted. All Step 3 filings must be filed individually.

D. DATA REQUIRED IN STEP 1:

All fields are required, unless otherwise indicated on the system.

Screen 1: Filing Information

• Each filing will be assigned a unique tracking number. Please provide the e-mail address where the tracking number for the filing should be sent. Note: The Tracking Number assigned to each loan in the initial filing must be retained and used to correct information during Step 1 and to facilitate access to the original record in order to complete Step 2.
• If the filing is missing information when submitted, the Banking Department will send an e-mail message requiring additional information. If you wish to use a different e-mail than the address provided for Tracking Numbers, please specify the address and ensure that these e-mails will be reviewed by someone in a position to respond to Department queries.
• Provide the day, month and year the filing was mailed to the borrower.
• Provide the name of the individual filing the information.  

Screen 2: Property Information

• Indicate if the property is a 1-4 family home, co-op, condo, or other. Make your selection based on the legal building classification of the property. 
• Provide full mailing address for the property, including street address, city, county and zip code.

Screen 3: Loan Information

• An internal loan number can be used for tracking purposes. This field is not mandatory.  
• Provide date of original loan (this is most likely the note date or closing date). If original loan has been modified, provide date of the original loan.
• Provide amount of original loan. For modified loans, this is the amount of the original loan prior to any modification, write off, principal reduction, etc.
• Specify the current interest rate.
• Specify the current monthly payment.
• Indicate if the current monthly payment includes escrow for insurance, taxes or PMI.  You are not required to specify amounts.
• Indicate if the loan is investor owned. You are not required to specify the name of the investor.
• Specify the type of loan.
• Specify the loan term.
• Select type of loan.
• Select frequency of reset if the loan is an Adjustable Rate or Payment Option Adjustable Rate loan;
• If the loan has been modified in the past 12 months, please indicate if the modification was under the HAMP program or a non-HAMP modification. You are not required to provide specifics of the modification.
• Specify how long the loan has been delinquent.
• Break down of the amount due and owing to bring the loan current into three categories:
• Delinquent contractual payment (including principal interest, taxes and insurance if part of contractual payment)
• Late fees
• Other (including but not limited to escrow advances, insurance advances, attorney fees, property preservation charges, taxes and PMI)

Screen 4: Borrower Information

• Provide name, address and last known telephone number for the primary borrower on the loan.
• An alternative telephone number and e-mail address is requested, if readily available. A key objective of this section of the law is to acquire information to facilitate a process where housing counselors can easily contact homeowners directly. Therefore, any additional contact information will support outreach efforts.
• If there are additional borrowers on the loan, please provide name, address and contact information.

E. DATA REQUIRED IN STEP 2:

Step 2 filings are due five business days after a lis pendens filing. Data required in Step 2 includes updates on any information that may have changed since the original filing, including possible changes in servicer information. It also requires more detailed information on the original loan, including lien holder, Investor or Trustee information. This information will allow the State to monitor and analyze foreclosure filings in the State and target its foreclosure outreach efforts.

F. DATA REQUIRED IN STEP 3:

On February 14, 2011, the Department began accepting information for Step 3 of the process. Information required in Step 3 includes the date of entry of the Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale and whether the property was owner-occupied at the time of the judgment. Loans that are cured at any point during the process do not need to be updated in the system.

G. QUESTIONS:

Questions re the filing process should be e-mailed to preforeclosurefiling@dfs.ny.gov

File: All filings for Step 1, Step 2 and Step 3 of the 90-day pre-foreclosure notice filing process can be submitted to the Department of Financial Services via the Online Filing System

Updated 11/30/2012