CHPC Report on Overmortgaged Buildings

New Report: Neighborhood Impacts of Overmortgaged Buildings

A brand new CHPC study reveals that over-mortgaged and foreclosed multifamily buildings increase the risk  of deterioration of nearby buildings and raise costs for private owners  and New York City in the form of additional Emergency Repair Program  (ERP) expenditures.

Commissioned and funded by  Enterprise Community Partners (Enterprise), “The Impact of Multifamily  Foreclosures and Over-Mortgaging in Neighborhoods in New York City” examines more than 1,100 multifamily buildings across Brooklyn, Bronx,  Manhattan, and Queens. It highlights the need to monitor multifamily  housing stock and coordinate public and private sector intervention so  that the stock may be improved, returned to responsible owners, and  preserved for another generation of tenants.

Additional findings from the study include:

• For buildings within a 500 foot radius of an over-mortgaged building, the average percentage increase in ERP liens per building was 198%. However for buildings outside of the 500 foot radius, the average percentage  decrease in ERP charges was 39%.


• Buildings within a 500 foot radius had $1,892,142 more in ERP charges in 2010 than they would have had if they were not near an over-mortgaged or foreclosed property.


• The average per building percentage increase in Class C housing code violations, the most serious, was 13.7% between 2008 and 2010 in buildings located within 250 feet of an over-mortgaged building.  The average increase per buildings outside of a 250 feet radius was only 6.3%.

You can read, share, and print the full report below. You can download a pdf here.