Suffolk tops state list of pre-foreclosure notices

Suffolk County still tops the state's list in the number of pre-foreclosure notices sent to homeowners, while Queens and Nassau still rank second and third, according to a second state report issued Thursday on the mandated notices.

Between Feb. 13 and Aug. 31, 19,880 mortgage holders in Suffolk received 90-day pre-foreclosure notices, or 14.8 percent of the state total. Queens received 15,184, or 11.3 percent, and Nassau, 13,611, or 10.2 percent, according to the State Banking Department report.

Together, the three counties accounted for more than 1 in 3 of the 134,000 notices sent out statewide to borrowers with mortgages on owner-occupied, one- to four-family residential properties.

"We are flooded," said Michelle Santantonio, the executive director of Long Island Housing Services, a Bohemia agency whose services include foreclosure prevention.

Last year, 620 homeowners sought the group's help to stave off a foreclosure. "We'll see, if anything, an increase," she said. "We have seen nothing like this in the 40-year history of our providing services on Long Island."

She said the common reasons homeowners run the risk of a foreclosure include a job loss, reduced working hours or a serious illness without the benefit of health-care coverage.

The banking department said the latest numbers show an increase in part because more lenders and mortgage servicers have filed pre-foreclosure notice information with the agency.

State law signed by Gov. David A. Paterson last year requires lenders to send out a 90-day notice before they begin legal action against borrowers in arrears. And the lenders have to file the notices with the state Superintendent of Banks.

The notices tell homeowners of steps they can take to avoid foreclosure, including working with a lender or a not-for-profit counselor for a solution.

In the first report, which was issued in June, the counties had the same ranking for the period covering Feb. 13 through May, 31. For that period, Suffolk mortgage holders received 8,293 pre-foreclosure notices, or 14.5 percent; Queens homeowners received 6,267 notices, or 10.9 percent, and Nassau mortgage holders received 5,755 notices, or 10.1 percent. The latest data are cumulative, meaning numbers from the first report are included in the new total.