This socialist failed miserably at capitalism.
NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams not too long ago misplaced a two-family house he owned in Brooklyn to Financial institution of America after racking up almost $1 million in debt over 15 years by refusing to pay his mortgage, The Put up has discovered.
He took the mortgage on the property to assist bankroll a enterprise enterprise that capsized.
A state choose in January sided with the financial institution by issuing a “final judgment of foreclosure” on the deadbeat’s property at 1392 E. 98th St. in Canarsie. Williams didn’t make funds on a $389,600 mortgage he took out on the home in 2006 to finance a vegan sandwich store in Park Slope, court docket information present.
Williams – who earns $184,800 yearly as public advocate and 1000’s of extra {dollars} renting the house – stopped making the $1,344 month-to-month funds in 2010, in keeping with court docket information.
He was slapped with a foreclosures motion 4 years later by Financial institution of America, which took over the mortgage when it purchased unique lender Countrywide Monetary amid the subprime mortgage meltdown.
A court-appointed referee calculated Williams’ mortgage debt — together with curiosity and penalties — had soared to $784,927.13 as of Could 2023, in keeping with authorized papers.
Williams appealed the choice however misplaced, and the home was listed on the market by a foreclosures public sale final month. The property reverted again to Financial institution of America possession after not a single bidder supplied a value exceeding the debt owed, which is now as much as $944,582, in keeping with public sale.com.
Councilman Robert Holden, a reasonable Queens Democrat and longtime Williams critic, stated the general public advocate’s incapacity to pay his money owed speaks volumes.
“Jumaane Williams has been paid a six-figure taxpayer-funded salary for years, yet he still couldn’t pay his bills or keep his home,” he stated. “Like many in government, he can’t even manage his own life — so why should anyone trust him to manage the people’s business?”
Williams and his mom bought the house in 2005 for $370,500, in keeping with information. He secured full possession of the property a yr later.
Williams has lengthy blamed his monetary woes on the phrases of his mortgage and tenants who didn’t pay their hire. His Earth Tonez Cafe in Park Slope closed in 2008.
Williams’ housing complications fly within the face of his public profession as a tenant advocate, as the general public advocate’s workplace repeatedly releases a listing of town’s worst landlords.
“Like the very slumlords he put on his ‘Worst Landlords Watchlist,’ Jumaane Williams pocketed rent from tenants, pulled in a six-figure salary, and still failed to make basic mortgage payments on his investment property,” stated stated Arvind Sooknanan, a spokesperson for Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar, a Queens Dem difficult Williams for public advocate within the subsequent month’s major.
“This isn’t just bad judgment — it’s pure hypocrisy.”
The general public advocate’s Canarsie cash pit has been repeatedly fined by the Division of Sanitation, together with Williams being socked with a $300 effective in 2020 for holding a “dirty area” outdoors, information present. The effective grew to $401 with penalties earlier than it was settled by Williams paying solely $267.
He additionally had a historical past of being behind on paying his water payments – which ballooned to greater than $10,000 in debt in 2022 however information present have since been paid off.
The Public Advocate himself doesn’t dwell anyplace close to his Canarsie property. As an alternative, he has taken up residence together with his lobbyist spouse and stepdaughter in a townhouse on the Fort Hamilton US Military Garrison in Bay Ridge.
“As has been extensively covered for a decade, the Public Advocate has an investment property in the foreclosure process, in part due to exploitative banking practices,” stated Williams’ spokesman William Gerlich.
“Many New Yorkers are facing much worse today – losing their family homes as a result of the affordability crisis and predatory practices – which is why the Public Advocate constantly stands up to the mayor’s rent hikes and the bad actors driving families out of our city.”
