Fannie Backs Down On Plans To Use Online Auction To Dump $29M Mortgage Portfolio Secured By Rundown Bronx Bldgs; Will Search For Responsible Landlord

In The Bronx, New York, Crain's New York Business reports:

• In the face of pressure from Sen. Charles Schumer, city housing officials and tenant advocates, Fannie Mae decided to cancel an online auction of 19 Bronx apartment buildings that had fallen into foreclosure. Ocelot Capital had bought the buildings in 2007 for a hefty $36 million, and officials worried that the auction would attract another owner who would overpay. The buildings have fallen into disrepair, racking up code violations, and forcing the city to spend nearly $1 million on repairs.

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• Fannie Mae had bought the $29 million mortgage portfolio from Deutsche Bank Berkshire Mortgage in 2007 and had proposed auctioning it off through a website called DebtX. The buildings, located in the Crotona section of the Bronx, are rundown, including 10 which have made the city’s list of worst-maintained buildings. The buildings are home to 520 families.(1)

For more, see Fannie Mae backs off auction of Bronx apartments (Public officials had worried that the sale of 19 buildings would attract speculators and raise rents).

(1) "Fannie Mae is committed to selling the Ocelot notes to a responsible buyer who will deal fairly and appropriately with tenants," said Ken Bacon, executive vice president of housing and community development at Fannie Mae. Overleveraged NYC Buildings