Yair Levy and 102-104 Fulton Street

Developer Yair Levy is facing a foreclosure suit from Bank of America after he allegedly defaulted on a $2.28 million loan backed by the commercial space at the Fulton-Chambers Condominium in Lower Manhattan.
Levy allegedly failed to make timely monthly payments since July 11, 2009, and got a second mortgage on the property for an entity called LawLand, without the prior approval of the lender, according to the complaint, filed March 8 in New York State Supreme Court. He also granted a “security interest” in the property to Sosana Levy, his wife, without prior approval of the lender, the complaint alleges.
Levy originally borrowed the money from UBS Real Estate Investments in November 2004, and signed a personal guarantee, according to the complaint. UBS later assigned the loan to LaSalle Bank National Association, which was trustee of a commercial mortgage-backed security LB-UBS series 2005-C1. The loan was scheduled to mature in December 2014. Bank of America bought LaSalle in 2007 for $21 billion, thus inheriting its loans. [more]

Homestate Properties office at 102-104 Fulton Street

A new sales and rental brokerage with ties to embattled developer Yair Levy has opened at 102-104 Fulton Street, the former home of now-defunct firm Homestead New York. And with a remarkably similar name — Homestate Properties — the new firm may be trying to piggyback on the success of its predecessor, which ceased operations in 2008 in the midst of the real estate downturn. The new firm is being run by Daniel Deutsch, Levy’s son-in-law and onetime business associate, and is headquartered in office space owned by Levy in the Fulton Chambers building, a nine-story building that Levy and partners converted to 14 condo units in 2004. After selling out Fulton Chambers, Levy retained ownership of commercial condos in the building, according to city documents, and leased space to sales and rental firm Homestead, founded by Eli Adahan and Danny Shamooil. Homestead had about 35 agents and three offices by the time it closed. Its co-founders, who are not involved in Homestate, have now moved on to other ventures. Levy himself may not be involved in the new venture, either. Homestate filed for incorporation with the Department of State in November 2009, according to the agency’s Web site, listing as its address Park Columbus at 101 West 87th Street — a stalled condo conversion, owned by Levy, which is now in foreclosure. But Homestate’s real estate license lists 102-104 Fulton Street as its headquarters, naming Deutsch as a salesperson and attorney Lior Aldad as the broker. [more]