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Citizens Bank has filed suit against a pair of real estate investors, claiming the borrowers defaulted on mortgage payments tied to a large Upper Manhattan multifamily portfolio.
Chaim Katzman, a shopping center developer, and retail developer Shaul Rikman may lose an eight-property portfolio of prewar apartment buildings in Hamilton Heights, PincusCo first reported.
Companies that own the properties, tied to Katzman and Rikman, stopped making payments this spring on loans that totaled roughly $68M, according to lawsuits filed this week in New York County Supreme Court.
Rhode Island-based Citizens Bank, which acquired the debt from New Jersey-based Investors Bank following a 2022 merger, alleges that the pair, which had been paying down the mortgage, now owe around $56M, as well as interest and fees.
Katzman and Rikman acquired the properties between 2012 and 2015, Crain’s New York Business reported. The properties include well-maintained and occupied properties, some of which have market-rate apartments that are priced at around $3K per month, per Crain's.
Katzman and Rikman provided indemnity agreements to secure the mortgages for the properties, which are on St. Nicholas Avenue, Convent Avenue, Broadway, Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard and several other streets in the neighborhood.
Katzman’s development firm, G City, isn't linked to the properties, according to Crain’s. G City didn't immediately respond to Bisnow’s request for comment. Rikman, of Florida-based firm Isram Realty Group, didn't reply to a request for comment.
CORRECTION, SEPT. 16, 5P.M. ET: A previous version mischaracterized the nature of the indemnity clauses referenced in the lawsuits. This story has been updated.
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