CENTRAL ISLIP – A judge has vacated a foreclosure default against a homeowner by finding that his first attorney was likely unaware of the full extent of the “damning picture of possible wrongdoing” in an alleged real estate scheme.
State Supreme Court Justice Robert Webster Oliver set aside the default judgment against the homeowner, Larnell Johnson, whose prior lawyer failed to interpose his answer in the foreclosure action. The judge found that the delay in answering did not prejudice the mortgage company that filed the action. He also determined that the facts surrounding the guilty pleas of individuals involved in the real estate scheme were not available to the homeowner’s attorney when the notice of appearance was filed.
