State Senator Jeffrey Klein and Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries said Governor David Paterson’s effort to prevent foreclosures with mandatory settlement conferences between lenders and borrowers of subprime loans who are in default has been largely ineffective. In Queens, 419 conferences between October 2008 and April led to 16 settlements, and in Brooklyn, 759 conferences resulted in 22 settlements, according to New York Acorn. Klein and Jeffries said borrowers are going into the meetings with a lack of understanding about the foreclosure process, and that lenders are sending representatives who do not have the authority to modify loans. The two lawmakers introduced new legislation to revamp the process, which would require a borrower to meet with a housing counselor before the settlement meeting to work out a financial plan.