N.Y. Judge Takes on Foreclosures

Arthur Schack Looks beyond the Routine Process for a Chance to Help the Little Guy

(CBS)  After struggling to pay a home equity loan, Pat Antrobus was facing foreclosure, and thought she'd be forced from her Brooklyn, N.Y. neighborhood and the only home she's known, reports CBS News correspondent Seth Doane.

"I could of taken out stock in Hershey's, Nestlé's and Haagen-Dazs," Antrobus said. "I was so stressed."

Though she tried to negotiate with her bank several times, relief came from a rather unlikely knight in shining armor: Judge Arthur Schack of the Kings County Supreme Court.

"My role is to try to do justice, so, if the little guy can stay in his house, that's great," Schack said.

Lenders need judicial approval to foreclose on homeowners in New York. It's usually a routine process, though not in these chambers.

As foreclosure filings have mounted, so have mistakes. It reminds Judge Schack of his days as a social studies teacher.

"It's like students would ask me if spelling counts on a test," Schack said.

He's rejected more than 40 of the 100-plus foreclosure filings that have crossed his desk in the last two years because of what some call "small" errors in the bank's paperwork, from incorrect dates and signatures to unclear proof of ownership.

"About half of the cases in the last two years you've thrown out for what some would describe as a procedural - small issue, " Doane said.

"I don't think it's a small issue when somebody lives in a house and you're going to disrupt their lives and take away their home," Schack said.

Antrobus agrees.

"I felt that, you know, OK - here's somebody who is actually doing something because he knows it is right - and who cares about little people - who he doesn't even know," Antrobus said.

"Do you see yourself on a personal mission to protect the little guy?" Doane asked.

"No, I see myself on a personal mission to do justice, which means if the little guy wins he wins," Schack said. "If he loses he loses but at least he gets a fair shot."

And he does it with flair, sometimes quoting Shakespeare, or in a decision he likens a lender to Mr. Potter, the heartless banker in "It's a Wonderful Life."

Schack said the his writing is so descriptive and flowery is to gain attention.

It certainly got Antrobus' attention.

"I think of judges as mean guys in black robes - or mean ladies in black robes with gavels dispensing justice," she said. "But I never thought the justice was going to be for me."

The judge's decision helped Antrobus keep both her faith in the system - and her childhood home.

[rohitjack]

If people will loose their homes in this way thn everyone will loose their home who have mortgage even they should take an action against these lendors.

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[cpthirteen]

Kudos to you, you Honor!! If others would take the time...take a stand, maybe those of us who have been doing the Right Thing...yet have recently fallen on hard times, would also be able to stay in our homes. The Stimulus and Tarp, have only deafened the Lenders...there are far too many of us...Who do not fall within the Guidlines.
Is anybody listening?

[jonreynolds]

I think your writer needs to check his spelling, particularly as the subject of the article is such a stickler. "I could of..." ???

[rightbehind]

Way to go Judge Schack!

[ddaryl1]

time to shuffle th ewelath and the power back to the middle class where th emajority of us hang

[MJH2100]

Way to go Judge. I find it so sickening that these TARP banks having received hundreds of billions in tax-payer bailouts are still foreclosing on any home owner. I think we should have let them fail. Now that they have been rescued by us - the tax payer - they show no mercy toward the little guy who through no fault of their own has fallen on hard times. It's the height of hypocrisy.

[White_Duck]

Good for you, Yer Honor! In times when banks have "gone red" from bad investments, then given themselves huge bonuses, right after accepting "bail out" money, it is refreshing to see someone stick up for "the common man". Banks, Insurance companies, etc. have run roughshod over us wee people for too long. I commend you!

[pensacola8-2009]

This judge applies common sense and helps where he can. He is correct about the numerous errors that are made in shoddy record keeping and accounting. The people who suffer a loss of their home already lost much more before reaching the door.