The city is tracking potentially troubled rent-stabilized apartment buildings with an eye toward influencing how they are transferred following a foreclosure, said Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Rafael Cestero. A preliminary analysis undertaken for the first time by HPD would classify many recently purchased rent-stabilized apartment buildings as over-leveraged. The city wants to keep track of the buildings because financially distressed buildings can bring down the quality of life for tenants and entire neighborhoods, Cestero said in City Council testimony yesterday at a hearing on private equity ownership of rental apartment buildings. “Buildings that fall into foreclosure or that transfer ownership multiple times also have had the potential to see significant physical distress, which is obviously not good for tenants,” he said. [more]