Concern about debt collection company's foreclosures, court denies request to move Drue trial, cleanup/apology event at unauthorized party house draws few teens
The Daily Gazette reports "gloves have come off" in a private debt collector's pursuit of delinquent property tax bills in Schenectady -- in one case it's alleged a man paid the $900 he was told he was owed, and the company foreclosed on his house anyway. [Daily Gazette]
A state appellate court has denied a request from attorneys for Dennis Drue to to move his trial from Saratoga County. Drue is accused of causing the Northway crash that killed two high school students, and seriously injured two others, last December. Said Saratoga County DA Jim Murphy: "Our obligation is to seek justice, and that includes making sure we have an impartial jury." [Saratogian] [Daily Gazette]
Capital Region law enforcement officials say there's been an upswing in recent years in heroin use, connected in part to the abuse of prescription painkillers. Also getting attention: officials say heroin and painkiller use is up among suburban teens. [TU] [Metroland]
The city of Troy has put out a new request for development proposals for the former city hall site in Monument Square. [TU]
The state Assembly and Senate are challenging a disclosure request by that Moreland Commission that includes the identity of legal clients in legislators' work outside government. [TU]
The number of elementary students who failed state standardized tests increased significantly this year, compared to the old test -- but the funding available for remedial instruction did not. [TU]
A 16-year-old is credited with pulling a man from a house fire in Greenwich Saturday morning. [News10]
Four teens -- out of an alleged 300 -- showed up Saturday at a planned cleanup/apology event at the Rensselaer County house that belongs to former NFL player Brian Holloway and was the scene of a large unauthorized party in August. The TU's Chris Churchill on the situation: "[I]t's time for a deep breath. Let's stop the rush to judgment." [WNYT] [TU]
The state attorney general's office says a nurse's aide at an Albany nursing home has been arrested after she allegedly broke a resident's wrist while retaliating when the woman allegedly hit the aide in the face. [TU] [News10]
A Warren County woman accused of having a sexual relationship with teen she met while working at a library has allegedly fled to France. [Post-Star]
Troy police say a man led them on a car and foot chase through downtown early Saturday. [News10]
An Albany man has been dealing with the problems created by sharing a name with a con man convicted of hiring hit men in a murder case. [TU]
Said one of the speakers at gathering of the Albany Chapter of Parents of Murdered Children: "You don't compare grief ... You just show compassion." [TU]
Democrat Sean Eldridge has formally announced he's running for Congress next year in the district currently held by Chris Gibson. Eldridge runs an investment firm is married to a Facebook co-founder. [TU]
Rensselaer County DA Richard McNally got the Democratic nomination in the race to replace State Supreme Court justice George Ceresia. [TU]
Incumbent Albany common councilman Lester Freeman, who lost the Democratic primary for the ward that includes the South End and Mansion Neighborhood, attributes his loss in part to his votes on Public Bath No. 2 (for closure) and backyard chickens (against). [TU]
An RPI fraternity alleges in a lawsuit that its treasurer, an alum in New Jersey, embezzled more than $250k from the frat. [TU]
A proposed "advanced technology" building for the Mohonasen school district would include a simulated clean room. [Daily Gazette]
Part of the Troy Public Library's proposed budget: Sunday hours, for the first time in a long time. [TU]
For the last six years a Schenectady man has been methodically cleaning and repainting city fire hydrants -- for free. [Daily Gazette]
The Captain J.P. Cruise Lines has a new paddle wheel boat. [TU]
Drawing a crowd at a Rensselaer Catholic church this past weekend: two relics said to be from Saint Pio of Pietrelcina. [Troy Record]
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I handled a few foreclosures in Schenectady. They are nightmares. You can't foreclose without a court proceeding in NY (thank Jebus, for what it's worth), but ATF (and Bank of America, and pretty much every other bank ever) hired local counsel who had no authority to do anything. How do you settle a case, with clients willing to pay what they owe, when the party doesn't even send someone with the authority to make a deal? It's ridiculous, and a tremendous miscarriage of justice, no matter what the original circumstances of falling behind on the loan or taxes were.
I had two judges who were willing to, at one point, either order someone from the company or restrain the company from charging any more ridiculous interest and fees. But that was two measly cases. People are getting the epic shaft from companies like ATF and shitty banks. It's disgraceful.
... said ktvorwald on Sep 23, 2013 at 3:32 PM | link