ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - The New York attorney general says 9 percent of New York’s residential mortgages, representing nearly 225,000 families, are in distress, meaning at least 90 days delinquent.
More than 42,000 are a year behind.
Attorney General Eric Schneiderman says funding for a network of counselors and legal help for troubled homeowners will increase $10 million to $30 million for the year.
In 2011 when 345,000 New York families were facing foreclosure, he says half had never talked to a lawyer.
New York’s foreclosure rate remains 5.8 percent, nearly three times the national average, following the 2008 burst in the U.S. housing bubble.
One reason is New York’s foreclosure process - averaging 820 days - is nearly three times longer than the national average, partly due to homeowner rights to court-supervised mediation.
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