NYC Housing Officials Fear Deteriorating Conditions For Tenants In Rent-Regulated Apartment Buildings In Danger Of Foreclosure

In New York City, The Indypendent reports:

• City housing officials laid out their plan to deal with multi-family building foreclosures [last week] at the New York City Council. In the Council’s Community Development committee, council members grilled newly minted Department of Housing Preservation Development ["HPD"] commissioner Rafael Cestero on the foreclosure crisis. HPD’s commissioner laid out a plan to tap federal bailout and stimulus money to save multi-family buildings from falling into foreclosure.

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• Cestero warned about the dangers of multiple family buildings going into foreclosure such as landlords refusing to make repairs that contribute to deteriorating building conditions. This in turn could drive entire blocks into decline by lowering property values and encouraging other property owners from investing in buildings – namely through making repairs and capital improvements. HPD will stress outreach to owners in danger of foreclosure, code enforcement targeting distressed buildings and the linchpin – using federal funds to purchase or co-finance mortgages with private investors.

For more, see Foreclosures Could Loom for Rent-Regulated Buildings.

See also, the New York Post: FORECLOSING IN ON 90,000 APARTMENTS (As many as 90,000 city apartment units could go into foreclosure as the housing crisis spreads from single-family homes to rental properties, city officials warned). RentSigmaSkimming