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Foreclosure

By Matt Chaban 10/13/11 5:29pm

Let's foreclose on the jail house! (WCBS)

Occupy Wall Street Comes to Brooklyn, Promptly Arrested

A small group of Occupy Wall Street protestors crossed the river today, arriving in the borough of Kings for the first time since the mass arrests on the Brooklyn Bridge. They were there to protest foreclosures, which they did by occupying a foreclosure auction at the country courthouse. Things turned out kinda how they have been since the protests launched almost a month ago: a mix of excitement and annoyance from the onlookers, some middling chants, and eventually, handcuffs. Read More

1 By Matt Chaban 8/11/11 9:18am

This Old House

Obama Wants Rentals as F’d Up Foreclosures Drop to Four-Year Low

Good news! Foreclosures are at their lowest levels in four years!

Wait, no, that's horrible news. There are so many delinquent homes out there, the banks don't want to repossess them, and even when they want to, the bottleneck caused by the robo-signing scandal is still holding up the whole party. The Obama administration has a simple solution: Just rent it. Read More

5 By Laura Kusisto 6/13/11 3:34pm

schadenfreude

One Madison Park: Pity the Poor Luxury Condo Owners

A couple of weeks ago, The Observer peered at a single light burning at failed condo project One Madison Park and speculated that it must be quite lonely at the top. Today The Journal reports that it's a veritable frontier up there. The dozen buyers (nine of whom The Observer has been told have moved in) Read More

By Laura Kusisto 5/26/11 8:48pm

Haunted Houses

Making Lehman-ade! First 10 Tenants Sign at 25 Broad

It's looking rather post-Lehman at 25 Broad Street these days (even though the failed investment bank is still involved). The first 10 tenants have signed at the mammoth downtown residential tower of erstwhile Kent Swig fame.

Recall, Bruce Menin and his partners bought the 20-story office building for a dime in the late '90s, before converting Read More

2 By Laura Kusisto 5/24/11 10:40pm

Features

Ziel Feldman’s Glass Chance: Clinging to One Madison

On Monday night, the bright, rain-streaked MetLife clock had just struck midnight and the streets were still crowded with Flatiron revelers when The Observer stood gazing at One Madison Park. The 60-story obelisk rose darker than the sky, with only a single light burning on the 25th floor, until it too went out.

The clock Read More

By Amanda Sterling 2/10/11 7:33pm

Mortgages

Local Coalition Launches Campaign Against JP Morgan Mortgage Policies

A coalition of union leaders, homeowners, elected officials, and others launched a statewide campaign today urging JP Morgan to change its mortgage policies. The campaign states that unless the firm modifies its practices to help homeowners avoid foreclosure, participants of the coalition will boycott the bank, and encourage others to do the same. This comes Read More

By Matt Chaban 1/26/11 11:18pm

Manhattan Transfers

Broadway Choreographer Takes the Stage at Distressed Chelsea Duplex

Sergio Trujillo has danced his way into a phenomenal Chelsea penthouse at the Lion's Head Condominiums (there's one on the facade) at 121 West 19th Street, according to city records. Mr. Trujillo, called "The Ubiquitous Choreographer" by Playbill, has staged dance routines most recently for The Addams Family, Memphis, Jersey Boys and Next to Read More

By Matt Chaban 1/17/11 10:56pm

Panics

We’re Running Out of Apartments! (Well, Maybe Not)

The typical picture of the housing crisis in America is miles of empty tract homes and half-built lots, years away from ever being filled. In New York the story is a little different, and The Times weekend Real Estate section paints a both bleaker and better picture in a rather alarmist article about the coming apartment Read More

1 By Matt Chaban 2:30pm

This Old House

2010 Set the Foreclosure Record, But 2011 Is Bound to Top It

Christmas and New Years are over, and with them went the foreclosure holiday. Banks are back at it, and as the robosigning confusion continues to unwind, they are bound to ramp repossessions up again.

Despite months of moratoriums and the drop in foreclosures that came with them, 2010 still saw more foreclosures than ever, Read More

By Matt Chaban 12/16/10 2:24pm

This Old House

Happy Holidays! Foreclosures at Two-Year Low… But for How Long?

Foreclosures have fallen to their lowest level since the near-apocalyptic collapse of the housing market two years ago, both nationwide and in New York. The worst must surely be over right?

Hardly.

The slowdown is neither the result of a stabilizing housing market -- wouldn't that be nice! -- nor holiday cheer. No, the broad concensus Read More

By Matt Chaban 12/07/10 2:27pm

Good Tidings

Stocking Stuffers: Banks Spin Foreclosure Moratoriums Into Holiday Cheer

For all those underwater homeowners out there, there may not be enough money to buy presents this year, but at least the big banks won't be evicting anyone during the holidays.

Well, the Christian holidays. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the federally sponsored lenders, announced that they will hold off on foreclosures for the two Read More

By Matt Chaban 10/26/10 9:08pm

Stuy Town

Stuy Town Foreclosure Called Off Following Deal with Wily Bill

The Stuy Town mystery continues!

CW Capital just released a statement saying it had reached a settlement with Pershing Square and Winthrop Realty to buy the firms' mezzanine debt from the massive housing complex. While the rogue investors, led by Pershing's Bill Ackman, were unable to foreclose on the property themselves and seize control, CW Read More

By Max Abelson 4:02pm

Leisure Time

Is This Foreclosure Supervillain David J. Stern’s Yacht Misunderstood?

Every good crisis deserves a good villain, and every good villain deserves a good yacht.

As if the ongoing foreclosure fiasco wasn't already scary enough, the top Wall Street Journal item right now is the news that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are reviewing the work of the enormous Florida law firm run by Read More

By Max Abelson 10/12/10 11:17pm

The Foreclosure Fiasco and Wall Street’s Shrug

"The first thing that needs to happen, I think, is to get these people out of their homes," a man wearing a bespoke blue-striped shirt, a Hermés tie patterned with elephants and Ferragamo loafers said recently. "Correct! I'll explain," the veteran member of a bank restructuring and advisory team said.

Amid evidence of sham documents Read More

By Mike Taylor 9/16/10 6:53pm

Bad News

U.S. Sets New Records in Poverty, Loss of Homes

Today is rapidly turning into a banner day horrible economic headlines, as several historic superlatives cross the wires. Thank goodness the world's greatest deliberative body stopped its petty squabbling long enough to intervene!

For starters, the Census Bureau said the percentage of Americans living in poverty rose to 14 percent in 2009 from 13 Read More

The New York Observer

Foreclosure

Occupy Wall Street Comes to Brooklyn, Promptly Arrested

Obama Wants Rentals as F’d Up Foreclosures Drop to Four-Year Low

One Madison Park: Pity the Poor Luxury Condo Owners

Making Lehman-ade! First 10 Tenants Sign at 25 Broad

Ziel Feldman’s Glass Chance: Clinging to One Madison

Local Coalition Launches Campaign Against JP Morgan Mortgage Policies

Broadway Choreographer Takes the Stage at Distressed Chelsea Duplex

We’re Running Out of Apartments! (Well, Maybe Not)

2010 Set the Foreclosure Record, But 2011 Is Bound to Top It

Happy Holidays! Foreclosures at Two-Year Low… But for How Long?

Stocking Stuffers: Banks Spin Foreclosure Moratoriums Into Holiday Cheer

Stuy Town Foreclosure Called Off Following Deal with Wily Bill

Is This Foreclosure Supervillain David J. Stern’s Yacht Misunderstood?

The Foreclosure Fiasco and Wall Street’s Shrug

U.S. Sets New Records in Poverty, Loss of Homes

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