Jurist's Retirement Could Mean End To "Russian Roulette" System Of Loss Mitigation Options For Relief-Petitioning Home Borrowers In Downstate NY Bankruptcy Court

In Brooklyn, New York, the Examiner.com reports:

• On Friday May 17, 2013 the United Sates Bankruptcy Court in the Eastern District of New York announced a “Ceremony in Honor of the Retirement of the Honorable Jerome Feller” and “On Tuesday, June 11, 2013 at 4:30 p.m. there will be a celebration.”
  
  One could hear the imaginary cheer across the district from homeowners and their advocates who have suffered the fate of losing their homes at the hands of Judge Feller. Nobody will celebrate Judge Feller’s retirement more than homeowners and their advocates who spin the wheel of hope when filing a bankruptcy and cringe when the judge is assigned to their case.
  
  In the Eastern District of New York whether or not a homeowner gets relief is based on which Judge gets assigned to their bankruptcy case. Indeed, some debtors or creditors may be given access to loss mitigation simply due to the judge who is randomly assigned to their case.
  
  The Court adopted General Order 582 and the Loss Mitigation Program Procedures and the order states” “and shall apply in all individual cases assigned under Chapter 7, 11, 12, or 13 of the Bankruptcy Code, to Chief Judge Carla E. Craig, Judge Dorothy T. Eisenberg, and Judge Elizabeth S. Stong, and Judge Joel B. Rosenthal, and any other Judge of this Court who may elect to participate in the Loss Mitigation Program.”
  
  The aim of the Program is for debtors and creditors to reach a consensual loss mitigation / mortgage loan modification resolution when a debtor’s principal residence is at risk of foreclosure.
  
  In Judge Feller’s courtroom, debtors and creditors have unfortunately lacked a remedy that similarly situated debtors and creditors in the same exact Courtroom enjoy in front of different Judges because he elected not to participate in the program which allowed homeowners and lenders an opportunity to work together.
  
  In what could be described as divine intervention or a simple stroke of luck, Judge Feller’s retirement could finally mean an end to the “Russian roulette” system of loss mitigation options available in the Eastern District Bankruptcy Court in Brooklyn.
  
  For those homeowners who have recently filed for bankruptcy and had the unfortunate break of getting Judge Feller, this announcement is a godsend and amounts to a second chance to keep their home
  
  In the Eastern District attorneys have had to adapt their advice to include a warning to clients when explaining bankruptcy and the loss mitigation program.
  
  “We could help to save your home in the loss mitigation program – unless we draw Judge Feller.”

For the story, see New York homeowners cheer as bankruptcy Judge Jerome Feller retires.