CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT FILED AFTER HUNDREDS OF BLACK AND BROWN PEOPLE LOST HOMES, CAN MOVE FORWARD
A federal court ruled three Brooklyn homeowners of color can move forward with a class action lawsuit to recover their wealth lost through New York’s Third Party Transfer (TPT) program.
The homeowners all lost their residences from alleged illegal seizures taken in “in rem” foreclosure proceedings under the TPT program. The city conducted the seizures under the Department of Housing, Preservation and Development (HPD), which confiscates the entire property value of a home from the owner, even if the owner only owed a few thousand dollars in water or sewer charges or taxes.
HPD would then give the property to development organizations of the administration’s choosing for free or a small fee. Two nonprofits, the Neighborhood Restore Housing Development Fund and BSDC Kings Covenant Housing Development Fund Company, are now defendants in the case according to the Brownstoner.
The group wants to represent a class of minority property owners across the city who have lost their homes to the TPT program without compensation.
The plaintiffs already won one battle when the city challenged their right to file a class-action suit, arguing the case should be argued in state court. The group successfully argued the case is a federal issue that falls under the 5th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which requires just compensation for the taking of a person’s property.
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