The Mamdani administration convinced a court that a Bronx landlord must pay up.
The Department of Housing Preservation and Development won court-ordered judgments against Fordham Fulton Realty and its principals totaling $31 million, Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced Wednesday.
The announcement is the latest example of the administration trying to create a playbook to address bad landlords. It’s unclear, however, whether the mayor’s play will survive on the field. Fordham Fulton Realty filed for bankruptcy last November, which has the potential to affect its payment obligations. The city has requested the lender sell the properties to a mission-driven buyer and release funds for repairs, but the lender’s interest in cooperating is unclear.
The judgment is the largest cumulative judgment in the department’s history.
“It does not matter how many portfolios you own, how many buildings you have, how many times you have violated the law without any kind of consequence, we are going to hold those landlords accountable,” the mayor said at a press conference Wednesday.
The $31 million in judgments is spread across two cases. The department under Eric Adams sued Fordham Fulton Realty and principals Karan Singh and Rajmattie Persaud in landlord-tenant court in 2024 to obtain repairs for hundreds of housing code violations at two Bronx locations: 480 East 188th Street and 530-540 East 169th Street. The violations included lack of adequate heat and clean water.
The cases went back and forth, with the landlords at one point held in civil and criminal contempt for failure to comply with court orders. In November of 2025, Fordham Fulton Realty filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. That did not pause enforcement actions from the city agency.
A lawyer for the landlords did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Now, in addition to the judgments, the Mamdani administration says it is in communication with the lender on the properties, Fannie Mae, in the hopes that it can facilitate a sale to a mission-driven buyer. It has also requested that Fannie Mae release additional funds for repairs at the properties. So far, only $900,000 have been released to repair the buildings.
Fannie Mae did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The firm is now overseen by President Trump loyalist Bill Pulte.
The Mamdani administration pointed to the appointment of a chief restructuring officer for the landlord in its Chapter 11 case as a win, although this officer will not have the powers of a receiver. A new property manager has been hired for the building, city officials said at the press conference.
The administration has tried to intervene in the bankruptcy process of rent-stabilized owners before, so far with limited success. It brought significant attention to the Pinnacle bankruptcy of 5,100 mostly rent-stabilized apartments with attempts to stop the auction and sale of the units to Summit Properties, but the sale ultimately closed.
In response to a question about criminal charges for landlords, HPD commissioner Dinah Levy referenced the Manhattan criminal case against Joseph and Meyer Chetrit for allegedly harassing rent-stabilized tenants.
“We are now starting to see more criminal actions brought against landlords,” Levy said. “We are exploring more aggressive legal action in partnership with agencies that have criminal prosecutorial powers.”
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