At peak, 51 percent of the buyers at the 505 at 505 West 47th Street had cases in federal court to rescind their contracts.

From the December issue: At peak, buyers of 55 out of 108 units (51 percent) at the 505 at 505 West 47th Street had cases in federal court to rescind their contracts, which were worth a combined $43.1 million. Six have since dropped their cases, and three have closed on their units (one received a 3.5 percent discount). The plaintiffs claimed Parkview, headed by Ian Reisner and Mati Weiderpass, failed to provide the property report required under the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act. After Parkview realized its mistake, the buyers claim it filed an amendment to the offering plan in an attempt to exempt itself from the law by removing eight units and combining another two, so the initial offering plan would only be comprised of 99 units. Developers across the city are fighting to keep buyers in contracts — but 20 condos and co-ops are facing a particularly tough time. Click here to read about the rest.

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Inside a unit at the Oro condominium

The Oro condominium in Downtown Brooklyn announced today that it will offer a rent-to-own program for interested buyers. Under the program, 50 percent or more of the monthly rent cost goes toward a down payment. The development, which slashed prices on its units by as much as 25 percent in October, has notoriously struggled with sales in the two years since it began marketing units. As The Real Deal reported in the December issue, approximately 12 buyers at Greenfield Partners’ Oro — at 306 Gold Street — are currently disputing their contracts. The building currently has approximately 40 percent of its 303 units
sold and is financially stable, according to Rose Associates, which is
marketing Oro. Robert Scaglion, senior managing director at Rose, said
that the program has been implemented in order to help buyers secure
financing for their purchase. “In today’s market, obtaining financing
is often the greatest hurdle,” Scaglion said. “Oro’s rent-to-own program gives buyers the flexibility of having a 12-month period to obtain financing, improve credit scores or make a larger deposit.” TRD [more]