Bronx residents rally for federal intervention at New York Community Bank

A group of Bronx housing advocates led by City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. rallied against the New York Community Bank which owns the debt on 34 foreclosed and decrepit buildings in the borough, the Tremont Tribune reported. The group is urging the bank to take responsibility for maintaining buildings that they’ve foreclosed on after issuing property owners unsustainable loans. The advocates say that New York Community Bank has a track record of
lending to “notoriously bad landowners,” and more than 10 percent of its mortgage portfolio is on foreclosed buildings that go long periods without heat, hot water, working elevators, proper ceilings and other basic maintenance. The FDIC, Quinn said, has the power to intervene and hold the bank responsible for the poor conditions thanks to legislation passed in last summer’s Wall Street reform bill. A spokesperson for the bank said that the bank makes loans expecting repayment but the foreclosures are a result of the troubled economy. But Dina Levy, of the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board, said the bank is “clearly the worst in terms of local lenders.” [Tremont Tribune]