NYC agrees to $60 million settlement over 64 properties seized for unpaid debts

New York City has agreed to pay $60 million to property owners whose buildings were seized under its controversial Third Party Transfer program, a settlement that comes as Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration considers reviving the initiative with changes.The settlement, filed in Manhattan federal court, would compensate owners of 64 properties taken during the program’s 10th round of seizures. The class-action lawsuit, filed in 2019, alleged that the city had taken properties without providing their owners with the compensation required under the Constitution. The settlement is still subject to approval by a federal judge, according to The New York Times.Property owners argued they lost homes worth far more than their debtsUnder New York City’s Third Party Transfer, or TPT, program, the city could seize properties with significant housing-code violations and outstanding taxes or other municipal debts.