Commercial evictions up in air as current ban winds down

New York’s moratorium on commercial evictions and foreclosures expires in 12 days, and a bill to replace it may have hit a roadblock. The current ban stems from Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s March 2020 moratorium on commercial evictions and foreclosures, which he has repeatedly extended. The latest extension, through a Jan. 23 executive order, prevents those actions from taking place until Feb. 22. A spokesperson for Cuomo told Eater that the governor has “no intention” of

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Rental payments improve in February after stimulus payments

In the first week of February, 79.2 percent of renters in 11.6 million market-rate units paid all or some rent. That’s a slight uptick from last month, when 76.6 percent of renters made a payment by the first week of the month. It’s also an improvement from December, when landlords reported the lowest rent collection levels since the start of the pandemic. But compared to the same period last year, 216,479 fewer households paid rent

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Prosecutor pushes for more LLC transparency

A month after a federal law required more transparency on real estate transactions, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance wants it expanded. Vance is requesting the Treasury Department mandate more reporting from special purpose entities — notably limited liability companies — which are commonly used in commercial real estate deals. Vance also asked Treasury on Monday to end anonymous, all-cash purchases of homes. He said the agency could do that by requiring Geographic Targeting Orders on

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Real estate helps moderate crush socialist in City Council race

 Democrat James Gennaro trounced Moumita Ahmed, the candidate favored by the Democratic Socialists of America, and six other contenders in a Queens City Council election Tuesday. The real estate industry independently kicked in cash to help Gennaro, who served in the Council in the 2000s. Unofficial results from the Board of Elections show that Gennaro won 59 percent of the initial vote, while Ahmed drew only 16 percent in the District 24 special election. Ninety-nine

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New York lawmakers get some answers on rent relief

Landlords and tenants expecting a rent relief check from New York state shouldn’t count on it before March, a state official said Tuesday. The admission came as lawmakers questioned RuthAnne Visnauskas, the leader of the state’s main housing agency, at a state budget hearing. Applications for the state’s second round of a rental assistance program implemented last summer were due yesterday. Visnauskas, who runs the Division of Homes and Community Renewal, told legislators it may

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After big upstate push, multifamily heavyweight E&M cashes in chips

E&M Management, once one of New York City’s largest landlords of rent-regulated apartments, is selling its massive Hudson Valley portfolio for more than $100 million. A partnership of multifamily firm Aker and investment firm Pearlmark closed on four of the firm’s properties for $81 million, which is $26 million more than E&M purchased them for, sources told The Real Deal. The buyers raised $21.8 million on the commercial real estate crowdfunding platform Crowdstreet. Those four

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Brooklyn lawyer charged in $4M real estate fraud scheme

A Brooklyn attorney is accused of bilking real estate investors out of at least $4 million in a home-flipping scheme. The defendant, Shimon Rosenfeld, allegedly lured would-be real estate investors over a period of four years by promising to buy properties with their money, flip the homes and share the profits with the sellers. Instead, Rosenfeld reportedly pocketed the money and used it to trade securities, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court this

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Blackstone revenue jumps in Q4

 Blackstone saw revenue jump in the fourth quarter, which the company attributed to some pandemic-resilient investments. The company reported $3.6 billion in revenue in the final quarter of 2020, up from $2.1 billion during the same period the previous year. Overall revenue for the year fell to $6.1 billion, from $7.3 billion in 2019. Blackstone saw an 8 percent increase to $618.6 billion in assets under management, bringing it closer to its goal of $1

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Dramatic reversal buoys city’s biggest multifamily bank lender

New York Community Bank said Wednesday that nearly all of its loans in deferral have become current. The multifamily lender also reported $189.4 million in revenue in the fourth quarter, a 42 percent increase from the same period in 2019. For the year, revenue was up 23 percent compared to 2019, at $650 million, narrowly exceeding analysts’ predictions. The earnings call followed an overhaul of New York Community Bank’s leadership. Longtime CEO Joe Ficalora, who

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Lawmakers one-up Cuomo with commercial eviction and foreclosure bill

The New York state legislature is moving ahead with its own commercial eviction and foreclosure bill, despite Gov. Andrew Cuomo including a similar measure in the state’s budget. The bill, sponsored by Assembly member Harry Bronson of Rochester and Sen. Anna Kaplan of Long Island, would ban evictions of businesses with fewer than 50 employees until May 1. It differs from the current blanket eviction ban, which draws no distinction between small and large businesses.

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