BiggerPockets

Tenants Victimized by the Foreclosure of Landlords are Seeking Court Action

Wednesday, April 28

Tenants victimized by the foreclosure of landlords are not willing to be patient anymore – they are seeking court action. The tenants of The Bronx have sent a clear message to the bank that since the latter now owns it they should immediately take up repairs. The Department of Housing Preservation and Development has listed 10 buildings that have seriously violated safety codes.

The tenants were brought together by North West Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition. One its board members Yorman Nunez said, “When you live in a place with no heat or hot water, with bugs, with ceilings falling down, with mould, that’s called a hole. Wells Fargo is just letting this happen.”

The trust on this building and nine others is held by Wells Fargo and its servicer LNR Partners. Its former owners were Milbank Real Estate. In March last year it was foreclosed. Since then the tenants have been in a state of limbo not knowing who is holding the reins. Last Wednesday 21st April, Legal Services NYC filed a motion linked to the running foreclosure proceedings requesting the judge to compel the bank to take charge of the building and make it habitable for the tenants while the case drags on. The petition ended with a phrase that precisely hit the nail on the end – “you lend it, you mend it.”

The borough president of Bronx Ruben Diaz Jr. said, “The lender is now the owner. They have the responsibility to maintain these buildings. If Milbank couldn’t pay their mortgage, the lender, which is now the landlord, has to step up to the plate.”

Also joining the cause of the tenants were Christine Quinn (Speaker of City Council), Fernando Cabrera (Council member) and others representing the office of U.S. Rep Jose Serrano.

This step of nosing into a foreclosure case to give relief to the tenants is a new tactics commented Ed Josephson the housing coordinator of Legal Services of New York City. He is one of the lawyers dealing with the case. The plan is to directly hit the bank that sanctioned the loan or purchased it as mortgage-backed-security to enforce repairs. He said, “We know what will happen when we get into court. Everybody is going to say that they don’t have any responsibility. They structure things on purpose to avoid liability. But the point is there will be a lot of pressure on all these banks to fork of the money because they created this disaster.”

Comments

1. 

   Dale Osborn Reply
   almost 2 years ago

   Somebody trying to hold BANKS responsible for their actions?? They will just stick their hand out for tax money to subsidize their greed!

Post a Comment

Your Name:
Your Email:
	Subscribe to comments?