The Daily Dirt: The lien sale is back. Is third party transfer next? 

The lien sale is back. The third-party transfer program is probably next. 

Last month, the City Council revived the city’s lien sale, making changes largely focused on preventing property owners from losing their properties. 

“Giuliani’s lien sale was merciless and had disparate impacts on small homeowners in low-income Black and brown communities,” Council member Justin Brannan said in a statement. ”Private debt collectors and predatory private investors made out like bandits. It was heartless and only served to exacerbate our city’s housing crisis.” 

Much about the revamped program seems to set the stage for the return of third party transfer, a defunct program where the city seizes distressed properties with overdue taxes or fees and then transfers ownership to developers.

Given that the criticisms of these two programs were similar — that they disproportionately targeted low-income and communities of color — the reforms to TPT will likely also focus on helping owners keep their properties. But the lien sale changes also include an off ramp that leads to TPT. 

Under the new lien sale, the Department of Finance must compile a list of properties that have been on the lien sale list at least twice over the last four sale periods and have a certain level of violations. The Department of Housing Preservation and Development will then inspect those properties and provide the City Council with a “rental watchlist” consisting of properties with a certain level of hazardous violations. 

Properties on the list that are considered to be distressed could end up in TPT. During a City Council Finance Committee hearing, Brannan indicated that the City Council will explore whether other “frequent flyer” buildings on the list should end up in TPT, even if they do not reach the debt requirements of the program (where the debt-to-building value ratio is greater than 15 percent). No word yet on when the City Council will bring back TPT.

What we’re thinking about: What do you think of President Biden’s temporary rent control proposal? Send a note to kathryn@therealdeal.com. 

A thing we’ve learned: Wednesday marks the 25th anniversary of the premiere of “Spongebob SquarePants.” 

Elsewhere in New York…

— A Manhattan jury Tuesday found New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez guilty on all 16 counts in his corruption trial, Politico reports. Menendez faced charges of bribery, obstruction of justice, extortion, acting as a foreign agent for Egypt and conspiracy. He plans to appeal the conviction. 

— A meteor likely passed over NYC Tuesday before disintegrating about 29 miles above Midtown, Gothamist reports. That could explain the loud noise New Yorkers heard, though nearby military activity may also be to blame.  

— A man who went swimming in Queens was rescued by a fisherman two miles from Sandy Hook’s shoreline in New Jersey, NBC New York reports. The swimmer was pulled out by the current and was found after treading water for hours. 

Closing Time 

Residential: The priciest residential sale Tuesday was $23 million for a 7,500-square-foot townhouse at 452 Greenwich Street in Tribeca. The Hudson Advisory Team at Compass had the listing. 

Commercial: The largest commercial sale of the day was $233.8 million for the 1 Hotel Central Park in Midtown. The 229-key hotel spans 109,900 square feet. Starwood Capital Group sold the property to Host Hotels & Resorts. 

New to the Market: The highest price for a residential property hitting the market was $12.5 million for a co-op unit at 800 Park Avenue in Lenox Hill. Steven Cohen and Stefanie Ruch of Douglas Elliman have the listing. — Matthew Elo