Kramer Levin Assists Former New York Met in Acquiring Troubled Loan Portfolio from Fannie Mae

Kramer Levin is assisting affordable housing developer Omni New York, LLC, led by former New York Met, Maurice “Mo” Vaughn and his partner, Eugene Schneur, in acquiring a notoriously troubled South Bronx housing portfolio from Fannie Mae. Omni was chosen as the successful bidder for the debt on a portfolio of properties in the South Bronx owned by entities of the Ocelot Capital Group. The Ocelot entities, which have allowed the buildings to fall into a state of disrepair, recently defaulted on their mortgage, prompting foreclosure proceedings. To ensure the properties ended up in the hands of a responsible developer that would invest in and maintain the affordability of the units, New York City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Senator Charles E. Schumer, Congressman Jose E. Serrano, Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, Fannie Mae and Deutsche Bank worked collaboratively to identify viable bidders for the mortgages covering 14 of the original 25 buildings. The collateral for the current loan portfolio is made up of 14 individual properties consisting of 416 units with mortgage debt totaling $23.8 million, which Omni has purchased from Fannie Mae and Deutsche Bank. Omni has committed to invest up to $1 million in emergency repairs and will work to obtain the deed to each of the properties in order to take title and become the long-term owner of each property.

The Kramer Levin team which assisted with the purchase of the distressed loan portfolio includes Jay Neveloff, Neil Tucker, Jeff Braun, Ruben Ravago, Tzvi Rokeach, Greg Plotko and Josh Winefsky.

 A link to a copy of the press release the City of New York issued is attached here.