NYC Pols, Tenants, Advocates Urge FDIC To Put Squeeze On Big 'Landlord Lender' In Effort To Preserve 34 Rundown Bronx Buildings Housing 800 Families

In New York City, Crain's New York Business reports:

• Housing advocates, tenants and some of New York's most powerful elected officials Thursday called on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to force New York Community Bank to evaluate the finances and living conditions at 34 rundown Bronx buildings in foreclosure, and then disclose information on building repairs that are needed.
• The move to pressure the FDIC to get involved is the latest salvo in a three-year campaign by officials and advocates to hold banks responsible for loans they made on multi-family properties that ended up falling into a state of disrepair.
• An amendment inserted into last year's Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act by two New York politicians, Sen. Charles Schumer and Rep. Nydia Velazquez, gives the FDIC the power to intervene.
• “We're asking the FDIC to investigate the practices and actions of NYCB and force NYCB to make documents public so we can actually see whether there is enough money at the table to make these buildings livable,” said City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. “There are 800 units and 800 families at risk.”

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• By pressuring the bank to disclose financial and living conditions, officials and advocates hope to create a level of transparency so potential buyers will understand the true value of the buildings and the amount of money needed to make repairs.
• “New York Community Bank is currently the most active provider of multi-family loans in New York City, and this makes their actions important to the health of our city's housing stock,” said Benjamin Dulchin, executive director at the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development.(1)

For more, see Group asks FDIC to help 34 Bronx buildings (Elected officials, housing advocates and tenants nudge feds to pressure lender to disclose details on badly-needed repairs in properties housing 800 families).

(1) According to the story, New York Community Bank has a large portfolio of distressed multi-family loans, including mortgages on 328 buildings—housing more than 6,000 families—with more than three outstanding code violations per unit that pose serious health and safety risks. Of those buildings, 34 are in foreclosure, with a total of 800 apartments. Advocates worry they will be sold to the highest bidder without vetting the buyers' ability or willingness to rehabilitate the deteriorating properties, the story states.