Real Estate News

The top Web stories from yesterday's The Real Deal blog:
1. Developer Laurence Gluck's Riverton Houses ordered to be sold at foreclosure auction
2. NJ banks, credit unions active players in real estate financing
3. Blaming brokers for the market crash

Many homeowners might think the decision to refinance a home loan can be a fraught one, but Barbara Corcoran, founder of the Corcoran Group, told NBC that it should be a no-brainer for a lot of mortgage-holders. “There are so many positives,” Corcoran said of mortgage refinancing, particularly if you want to shorten the term of your loan. But ending up with a good mortgage in the first place, Corcoran said, requires buyers to pay attention to credit scores first. “The number to bear in mind for the best loan out there is a credit score of about 720,” Corcoran said.

A new 12-story Harlem development, 2280 FDB, has been approved for Federal Housing Administration’s financing, according to a release sent by developer RGS Holdings and Halstead Property Development Marketing, the development’s sales team. Meanwhile, Daniel Hollander, the former senior managing director of the Clarett Group, has launched a new, nationwide investment and development consulting firm headquartered in New York City and Sheldon Good & Company is set to auction off a one-bedroom, one-bathroom condo at 1600 Broadway on March 19, one of seven residences set to be auctioned as part of the High Country Club’s Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation. Click here for more. TRD

Shawn Carter, also known as rapper and Rocawear clothing founder Jay-Z, has filed a suit against his lenders over a loan workout for a planned boutique hotel in Chelsea. In 2007, Jay-Z controlled a company that borrowed $52 million to purchase the property for his future hotel, according to a spokesperson for investment firm Highland Capital Management, one of two lenders named in the suit. The loan matured in August and is in default, and the rapper has since handed over the keys to Highland and co-defendant Nexbank SSB in a deed in lieu of foreclosure. However, Jay-Z is claiming, the lenders are still attempting to collect funds in excess of what he and two other men had pledged when they guaranteed the non-principal obligations of their company on the 2007 loan. He is seeking a declaratory judgment that those obligations have been met, plus more than $3.7 million in damages for the interest and costs incurred while being held liable for the excess funds. “Highland Capital Management believes the claims asserted by Mr. Carter are meritless and will vigorously defend itself and intends to pursue the obligations owed to Highland’s investors,” the Highland spokesperson said. [Bloomberg]