Tampabay: Bank's foreclosure is anti-Semitic, landlord says

Clarification
In a series of articles published in the St. Petersburg Times, certain apartment complexes, including Amberwood Apartments, were identified as being owned by Steven S. Green, personally. However, these properties are or were owned solely by corporations in which Mr. Green is a shareholder, and were not owned by Mr. Green, personally.

TAMPA -- Apartment landlord Steven Green says he had a chummy relationship with SunTrust Bank executives, inviting them to New York to see the Yankees and hosting parties where they were guests at his Hyde Park mansion.

That was before SunTrust foreclosed on Green's $1.7-million Tampa home.

Now Green claims SunTrust decided to sue him, at least in part, because he is Jewish. In court papers filed Friday, Green's attorneys allege the bank violated the federal Equal Credit Opportunity Act by bringing the foreclosure action "on the basis of Green's religion."

The court documents cite a SunTrust meeting to discuss Green's loans in which Green claims he overheard a bank vice president state to a colleague, "She has this f------ Jew waiting for me!"

There are no other allegations of anti-Semitic behavior in the court documents. Green's attorney, Glenn Goldberg, said it would be unfair to reveal what other evidence his client may have to indicate discrimination.

"SunTrust needs to be held to task," Goldberg said Tuesday. "This needs to be brought out in court."

SunTrust attorney William Knight Zewadski said the bank official cited by Green "did not make that comment." He said Green's claims of discrimination are "absolutely denied."

Green, 37, is the former Yonkers delicatessen worker who amassed a fortune in real estate -- and a reputation as a slum landlord -- in New York City before investing some $40-million in a dozen apartment complexes in Tampa.

In New York, the Village Voice in 1990 listed Green as one of the city's 10 worst landlords, and a judge once jailed him for turning off a Queens tenant's hot water in the dead of winter.

In Tampa, Green expanded his real estate portfolio, stayed out of the media spotlight and nurtured his role as a bon vivant, hosting lavish parties at his Hyde Park home, an 8,137-square-foot, red-brick mansion whose third floor serves as a ballroom.

All the while, Green enjoyed a cordial relationship with SunTrust. The bank loaned him $4-million to buy the Horizon Pointe Apartments on N MacDill Avenue, $3.15-million to purchase the Westport Commons Apartments on Spruce Street and another $1.72-million on Green's Hyde Park house at 801 S Delaware Ave.

While the loans were being made and repaid, Green acknowledged having "numerous SunTrust executives" as his guests "at many functions and events," including Yankees games and parties at his house. Among the guests, Green said, were SunTrust president Dan Mahurin, and commercial real estate officers John Fetzko and Kent Harrell.

Green said none of the social gatherings ever influenced any lending decisions.

All three SunTrust officials declined to discuss being Green's guests.

"I understand our position is that we are not going to comment," said Harrell.

The relationship between SunTrust and Green began to sour sometime after May, when Hillsborough County listed more than 500 code violations at Green's 212-unit Amberwood Apartments. After finding fire damage and electrical problems, the county padlocked the apartments, forcing scores of tenants to find new quarters.

In July, SunTrust filed its foreclosure suit. The bank claimed Green was late making May and June home mortgage payments totaling $7,704.35. It demanded he pay the entire balance of $971,163.

The bank also notified Green that it was declining to renew a commercial note due in June and demanded he pay the full balance of $748,355. SunTrust says Green helped trigger a default by failing to send in a new financial statement.

Green insists he had an agreement with SunTrust that required his commercial note to be renewed each year automatically as long as he remained current. The bank's failure to renew the note, he says, constitutes fraud.

Meanwhile, record-setting fines continue to pile up at Amberwood, still vacant and showing signs of neglect. Fines that hit $322,250 this week have caused a couple of potential investors to think twice about buying, said Don Shea, Hillsborough's community improvement director.

Goldberg said he doubted publicity about Amberwood's problems had anything to do with SunTrust's foreclosure action.

"I think the turnover in personnel at the bank might have had something to do with a change in attitudes," he said.

-- Jeff Testerman can be reached at (813) 226-3422 or by e-mail at testerman@sptimes.com.

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