A New York landlord targeted by Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing tens of millions of dollars in foreclosure cases.
Rajmattie Persaud is connected to four foreclosure cases tied to about $36 million in loans from the former Signature Bank, according to complaints filed this month in Queens County Supreme Court.
The foreclosure comes as Persaud’s Fordham Fulton Realty is battling the city over more than $31 million in court-ordered penalties and fees tied to housing code violations. The company has filed for bankruptcy.
The foreclosure complaints cover four tax lots containing 262 apartments, according to city records. The addresses are 87-40 165th Street in Jamaica; 215-01, 215-03, 215-05, 215-07, 215-09, and 215-15 Hillside Avenue in Queens Village; 196-11, 196-03 & 196-07 Jamaica Avenue and 91-15 & 91-21 196th Street in Hollis; and 88-02 197th Street in Hollis. Two of the lots were purchased in the early 1990s.
Borrowers associated with Persaud took out about $36 million from the former Signature Bank in 2022, backed by the properties. Signature Bank was closed by the state in 2023, and the loans were transferred to the plaintiff, a company called SIG RCRS A/B MF 2023 VENTURE that is associated with Santander Bank.
According to the complaints, the borrowers fell behind on monthly debt service, insurance, water, and tax payments while also failing to meet reporting requirements. The lender also cited housing code violations at the properties as events of default.
Persaud did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.
Almost all of the units across the properties are rent stabilized. In the largest property, the 102 residential units on Jamaica Avenue and 196th Street, rents average $1,311 per month, according to the rent roll and an analysis from The Real Deal. Rents averaged the highest in the 14 units on Hillside Avenue, at $1,736 per month.
Those rents won’t be increasing for at least another year after New York’s Rent Guidelines Board voted last week to freeze the rent in stabilized apartments, fulfilling one of Mamdani’s signature campaign promises. That means the buildings can’t expect a revenue bump from the next round of lease renewals.
Persaud and fellow landlord Karan Singh were called out by Mamdani in a May press conference. The mayor highlighted that courts had ordered judgments totaling more than $31 million resulting from housing code violations at two Bronx locations: 480 East 188th Street and 530-540 East 169th Street.
At the time, the administration said it was looking for cooperation from the lender in that case, Fannie Mae, to facilitate a sale to a mission-driven buyer such as a nonprofit organization.
The ownership entity in that case, Fordham Fulton Realty, filed for bankruptcy in November 2025.
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