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When the White Horse Tavern building was purchased by the notorious landlord Steve Croman, West Villagers grew anxious for the building's future.
Croman had served jail time for tax fraud and was required to pay $8 million in restitution back to tenants he was accused of harassing. The landlord ultimately pleaded guilty to a scheme that involved obtaining multi-million dollar refinancing loans — which included submitting false mortgage documents to New York Community Bank and Capital One Bank.
But now, New York Community Bank has welcomed Croman back.
The bank is the lender for Croman's purchase of the $13.7 million building, located at 567 Hudson St., mortgage documents and property records show.
A spokesman for New York Community Bank did not return multiple calls for comment.
Tenants' advocates have raised concerns about the standards banks hold landlords to when they give out loans.
"I'll leave it to the bank regulators to decide whether it's safe and sound to lend to someone who defrauded you," said Jaime Weisberg, a senior campaign analyst for Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development (ANHD).
"We've been in regular conversation with the bank about this particular landlord for years," Weisberg added. "To be doing business with somebody with such a poor record with tenants is concerning.
"We want banks to be mindful of this because their lending matters," she said.
