Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Meets with Brooklyn Homeowners to Highlight Actions to Combat Deed Theft

Governor Kathy Hochul today met with Brooklyn homeowners to highlight her actions to combat deed theft. Governor Hochul recently secured $4.5 million to support enforcement, community outreach and education activities related to preventing and combating deed theft. Additionally, the FY27 Budget includes $40 million for the Homeowner Protection Program (HOPP) to support a statewide network of housing counseling and legal services organizations that provide free assistance to homeowners. This announcement builds on a suite of major actions the state has taken since the Governor took office to protect homeowners against deed theft.

AUDIO: The Governor's remarks are available in audio form here.

PHOTOS: The Governor's Flickr page will post photos of the event here.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Maurice and Marilyn - wonderful hosts who let us barge in on your home here today. But it's important conversation. I know this is part of your passion as well, to just help people who've been defrauded by some real scammers. People are absolutely ruthless and unethical, preying on people who just don't have enough information, don't have the knowledge to know what their rights are.

And so to you, Maurice and Marilyn, everyone who's part of the Brownstoners Organization and -

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I always feel so [inaudible] about communities like these here in Bed-Stuy and elsewhere. There's sometimes a problem and you can talk about it, you can complain about it, you think government should do something. But here you have community members step up, and you take the power and you use it. And to do what you've done, but also to have elected officials who are so responsible. We literally have some of the very best - some of my great partners in Albany, they are fighters. They are fighters.

And I want to thank Stefani Zinerman for all of her work. And Assemblymember Latrice Walker as well. State Senator Kevin Parker. Assemblymember Brian Cunningham is joining us as well. And also, one of the true leaders of my administration is RuthAnne Visnauskas, who has joined us as well, so thank you. Renee Gregory, the President of Brownstoners, and Christie Peale, Executive Director of the Center for New York City Neighborhoods.

So I just wanted to kick off the conversation very quick and open it up with some others we want to hear from. I want to know more about what else we can do in the Legislature to address the issue of deed theft. And this has been a challenge that brought to my attention since the beginning of my tenure five years ago. We strengthened the laws. One of the first bills I signed on this topic was to make it - Assemblymember Cunningham has joined us, and I thank him for his expertise as well.

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But, homeowners are being targeted by despicable criminals. And what we did, [inaudible] for some of the things we've done to address this, but I want to first of all say sometimes money is important, right? It is always important. So the HOPP program, which funds the opportunity to educate people on the rights of the defendant used to be funded about $20 million dollars a year. When I became Governor, I doubled it to

$40 [million] because this was becoming a real problem. So I've allocated over $200 million for this essential program since I've been Governor.

I wanted to add a little bit more to that this year, so in the Budget and my resources, we're adding $4.5 million additional, $1.5 [million] is going to the DA, and I want to introduce District Attorney Eric Gonzalez -

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We need strong partners who will prosecute these cases, who understand what this does. Because another office, they might say, "You know, on the scale of murders and rapists and shooters, we're going to push that over here." Not this man. Not this man. He understood the human toll that was being taken by people being robbed of their own wealth, an asset they may have worked so hard for and to keep and preserve, and it's been taken away from them right under their eyes, and they don't know about it.

So I want to thank the DA for all he has done. He's a great, great champion.

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And we'll continue to change the law to uphold this, what we've done here. But I want to just make sure we all know it. Giving prosecutors the tools they need, creating the crime of deep theft.

It wasn't even considered a crime before, right? So we got that done. I want to thank all the legislative partners and also empower the Attorney General. I want to thank Tish James right now.

We would have had to gather a couple years ago to sign these bills that came through and she has been unrelenting. Empower the communities and engage in evictions and ownership in dispute proceedings, just so someone, while they're in proceedings, doesn't have their livelihood taken away from them. And allow homeowners to cancel a contract to sell their homes if they're already in utility lien lists. Allow prosecutors to flag properties that might be subject to deed theft. Make sure potential buyers and lenders know before a fraudulent sale happens. And make it easier, as I said, for prosecutors to avoid target loan and sales, and prevent manipulative disclosure practices.

So that's all a list of what we've done, and we've done this with the legislators who are great, great champions. But I'm always asking what else has to happen? Are we seeing the effects of these laws now? Are we feeling that the situation is more known to people? Are we making a big difference with the changes in our laws, but also the resources that we have for this program?

Again, the money has been doubled for this. So this is what I wanted to have a conversation about, and just ask everyone, but also just tell me what's on your mind. I mean, you're on the front lines of this fight, and you see things where maybe you don't end up in my office, but you're talking to real people with real stories, and I just want to hear from both of you.