These Banks Finance The City's 'Worst Landlords'

PROSPECT-LEFFERTS GARDENS, BROOKLYN — Every year, New York City Public Advocate Letitia James names and shames the city's "worst landlords," listing building owners who rack up the most violations on their properties.

On Tuesday, she went a step further and named the banks that finance them. Her research showed that 10 banks gave more than $300 million in loans to landlords with a long list of complaints against them.

James' office compiled the list by checking properties owned by the landlords and using city records to find the banks that provided loans on those buildings. The banks were named at an event in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens.

James wants banks to take landlords' practices into account before lending them money and take action against them if they rack up violations after the money is given out.

"Banks should put their money where their values are, and stop funding the City’s Worst Landlords until they fix unsafe housing conditions," she said in a statement. "Banks must use their economic leverage to get bad landlords to take responsibility for maintaining basic living conditions in their buildings. We won’t rest until every single tenant has access to safe housing all across New York City."

The list excluded buildings that had fewer than five rental units or with loans that were taken out more than five years agoBuildings were also excluded if their mortgages had been paid off or if their loans were federal or from the City of New York.

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These were the top 10 banks providing loans to the city's "worst landlords," as defined by James' office:

1. Signature Bank (58 Loans, $130,000,000 aggregate amount of mortgages held)
2. Capital One (24 Loans, $30,000,000 aggregate amount of mortgages held)
3. Customers Bank (20 Loans, $40,000,000 aggregate amount of mortgages held)
4. JPMorgan Chase (19 Loans, $20,000,000 aggregate amount of mortgages held)
5. New York Community Bank (15 Loans, $30,000,000 aggregate amount of mortgages held)
6. Dime Community Bank (12 Loans, $15,000,000 aggregate amount of mortgages held)
7. Investors Bank (11 Loans, $12,000,000 aggregate amount of mortgages held)
8. Peapack-Gladstone Bank (10 Loans, $15,000,000 aggregate amount of mortgages held)
9. Deutsche Bank (6 Loans, $10,000,000 aggregate amount of mortgages held)
10. Astoria Bank (6 Loans, $8,000,000 aggregate amount of mortgages held)

James said banks should p