NEW YORK CITY-After securing $132 million in the national mortgage servicing settlement, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman unveiled that up to $15 million of those funds will be used to extend funding for foreclosure prevention and other related services, the AG said in a statement. Under the deal, up to $9 million of the allocation will be used to support the state’s Foreclosure Prevention Services Program that was set to expire on April 1, and up to $6 million will support housing and community renewal activities statewide through not-for-profit community-based housing organizations.

Describing that funding for legal services is an “essential first step” in bringing relief to the homeowners and communities that have been affected by the housing crash, Schneiderman says the state has “an obligation” to provide assistance to the struggling homeowners across the state facing foreclosure. “This portion of the national mortgage settlement will ensure that families in New York State have the legal services they deserve to fight wrongful foreclosures and protect themselves in court,” he says, in a prepared statement.

Under the state’s foreclosure prevention law, the regulation entitles homeowners to a 90-day pre-foreclosure notice before a lender can begin a foreclosure action. According to the AG’s office, the notice is required to include a list of at least five nonprofit housing counseling agencies that can assist homeowners at risk of foreclosure. Organizations funded by the Foreclosure Prevention Services Program have also made possible the courts’ successes in negotiating loan modifications from lenders at foreclosure settlement conferences. Without funding for the program, most of these agencies would lose the resources necessary to fulfill these critical obligations to homeowners, says the AG.