Judge ruled LNR to pay for repairs at foreclosed Bronx apartments

LNR Property was ordered to pay up for the $2.5 million in repairs needed at 10 foreclosed Bronx apartment buildings in a week. This decision comes after State Supreme Court Judge Stanley Green lifted the company’s stay on the enforcement of his September decision.

The Florida-based special servicer LNR Property took full control over the portfolio of dilapidated buildings earlier this year after Milbank Real Estate, a Los Angeles-based company defaulted on its $35 million mortgage.

The lender tried to sell off the mortgage with to no avail, as it has refused to take a loss on the loan and properties are said to require millions of renovation work.

"After due consideration of the extreme circumstances faced by the tenants, and weighing the relative hardships, the court finds that lifting plaintiff’s stay pending appeal is an appropriate exercise of discretion," Green wrote in his decision.

"Finally, a decision that puts tenants and the Bronx first,” said tenant leader Sergio Cuevas of the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition. “We can now celebrate the holidays without worrying about whether or not we’re going to have heat."

Leaks, mold, rats, roaches, collapsed ceilings, missing floorboards and fire damage have made the 548 units virtually uninhabitable, according to the tenants. The $2.5 million ruled by the judge is only a fraction of the up to $26 million that an architect’s report released by the City Council estimated is required.

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