Foreclosure help starts in Suffolk

The New York State Department of Financial Services' huge white mobile van rolled into a Pathmark shopping center lot in Brentwood about 7 a.m. Thursday. Aboard were several foreclosure counselors ready to help homeowners in a part of the state hit harder than any other by the mortgage crisis.

By 8:30, 10 people had already visited the van. By 9, the number had grown to more than 20. And the van was going to remain in the lot until 7 p.m.

State financial services superintendent Benjamin M. Lawsky dropped by. He said the department began a statewide initiative Thursday to help stem mortgage foreclosures, and decided to make Suffolk its first stop. The department said in an announcement that Suffolk "has the highest number of home foreclosures in New York State." Nassau ranks third, according to state figures.

"Can we help everyone? No," said Lawsky. "But it depends where they are in the process. If we get to them early, we can help." It becomes harder, Lawsky said, when homeowners miss mortgage payments and are in default. That was the point of bringing out the department's "mobile command center." During the morning, two counselors were talking quietly to troubled homeowners.

Some homeowners who agreed to be interviewed asked that their names be withheld. But not all. In fact, Mimi Pierre Johnson, 49, of Elmont, who has been fighting foreclosure for four years, has become an advocate for others in the same situation and is now an outreach coordinator for a statewide organization, New York Communities for Change, which works for economic reform.

A family-owned construction business failed in 2006, Johnson said. The family fell behind in its mortgage payments. Johnson said her bank would not modify her loan. The house is now worth less than the loan. She wants to stay in the home with her husband -- who has recently completed training as a flight instructor -- and their two children.

"God gives me the grace to fight on," Johnson said.

State Sen. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) was among the politicos who helped persuade state officials to open their initiative on Long Island. "No one has been immune from this crisis in Brentwood and Central Islip," Zeldin said.