Dive Brief:
- Last week, Fannie Mae took steps to foreclose on a $61.5 million loan behind two New York City properties with nearly 500 units in the Bronx, according to Bisnow.
- Fannie Mae claims Fordham Fulton Realty Corp. and guarantor Rajmattie Persaud have defaulted on a commercial mortgage covering Fordham Tower and Fulton Towers, claiming the borrower has missed payments for years, starting in April 2020, according to Bisnow.
- In the complaint filed on Sept. 23 in Manhattan federal court, Fannie Mae is asking for a receiver to manage the properties, foreclosure of the mortgage and all junior liens and a money judgment against the borrower and the guarantor for money remaining after a foreclosure sale, according to Mortgage Professional America.
Dive Insight:
Fannie Mae stated that the borrower failed to make monthly payments from April 1, 2020, to May 31, 2022. Loan servicer Greystone Servicing Corp. entered into seven separate forbearance agreements during that time, according to Mortgage Professional America. Even with those agreements, the government-sponsored enterprise claims monthly payments remain due from October 2024 forward.
Mortgage Professional America reports Fordham Fulton Realty Corp. owes liens to the New York City Water Board, Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Approved Oil Co. of Brooklyn, Inc., the New York City Department of Finance, the New York City Environmental Control Board and the New York City Department of Housing Preservation & Development.
The Fannie Mae lawsuit is only the latest problem for Fordham Fulton Realty. In April 2024, The Legal Aid Society filed suit on behalf of 62 tenants at Fulton Towers to seek repairs to over 600 open violations.
The Legal Aid Society said tenants believed the landlord was “falsifying certifications in an attempt to hide the severe nature of the buildings’ neglect.” Residents of the building complained of heat and water outages that lasted for days at a time and elevators that had been sporadically out of service for many years.
“The sheer number of open violations is a clear indicator that this landlord is acting in bad faith and must be held accountable,” Zoe Kheyman, an attorney in the Housing Justice Unit – Group Advocacy Practice at Legal Aid, said in a news release at the time. “We look forward to fighting for our clients, many of whom have lived in their apartments for decades, to remedy the dangerous conditions and restore their quality of life.”
With expenses rising, several properties throughout New York City have recently faced financial difficulties, though they haven’t had complaints rivaling those at Fulton Towers.
For instance, more than 5,100 rent-stabilized New York City apartments are being marketed for a potential bankruptcy auction, though they could also solicit offerings for potential refinancing, according to Bloomberg.
Flagstar Bank holds more than $564 million in debt on the buildings, which fell into Chapter 11 earlier in the year. The apartments span dozens of buildings across Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan and the Bronx, according to Bloomberg.
Click here to sign up to receive multifamily and apartment news like this article in your inbox every weekday.
