From NYLJ:
A lender has dropped, at least for now, a challenge to a state requirement that attorneys attest to the information they file in foreclosure proceedings. The motion in Erie County Supreme Court by Beneficial Homeowner Service Corporation seeking to have the requirement declared unconstitutional was withdrawn without prejudice after the company switched attorneys from Steven J. Baum P.C. to Phillips Lytle.
Justice Timothy J. Walker had been scheduled to rule this week on arguments by the Baum firm, which had not submitted the affirmation, that former Chief Administrative Judge Ann Pfau had overstepped her authority in requiring the affirmations it contended wrongly added another layer of proof for foreclosure firms (NYLJ, Nov. 15). But the firm announced it was closing its doors soon after oral arguments on the motion in Beneficial Homeowner v. Foster, 9436-2009 (NYLJ, Nov. 22).
Preston L. Zarlock of Phillips Lytle, said in a Dec. 1 letter to attorneys for the homeowner, Shauna M. Foster, and the Attorney General’s Office, which intervened in the case, that the firm had taken on the case and the motion was being withdrawn without prejudice. Attorneys for Ms. Foster—Sarah Galvan of Legal Services for the Elderly, Disabled or Disadvantaged of WNY and Keisha Williams of Western New York Law Center—said in interviews they had hoped for a ruling on the matter. Ms. Williams said it remained to be seen if Phillips Lytle would comply with the affirmation or challenge it in a new motion. Mr. Zarlock declined to comment.
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