It’s a strange irony when the man who publishes New York City’s "Worst Landlord Watchlist" finds himself on the wrong end of a foreclosure notice. Jumaane Williams, the City’s Public Advocate and a person often floated as a potential mayoral candidate, has spent years railing against predatory lenders and heartless property owners. But for over a decade, a quiet legal battle was brewing over his own piece of Brooklyn real estate.
The story isn't just about a missed payment or two. It’s a messy, fifteen-year saga involving nearly $1 million in debt, accusations of hypocrisy, and a subprime mortgage from the Wild West era of lending.
The $944,000 question: How did we get here?
Basically, the timeline starts way back in 2006. Williams bought a property on East 98th Street in Brooklyn for about $389,000. At the time, he was a young community organizer with big dreams of owning both a home and a restaurant. He took out a mortgage with Countrywide Financial—a name that still makes homeowners from the 2008 era shudder.
By 2010, the payments stopped.
Williams was paying roughly $1,344 a month on that mortgage. According to court records and reports that surfaced during his 2025 primary campaign, he allegedly stopped making those payments altogether around the time he entered the City Council. While he was collecting a six-figure salary as a public official, the debt on that investment property began to balloon.
Interest is a beast. Over fifteen years of non-payment, that original $389,000 loan morphed into a staggering **$944,852** debt, thanks to penalties and accrued interest. Honestly, it's the kind of financial spiral that would sink almost anyone. In April 2025, the property finally hit the auction block. When no outside buyers stepped up to pay the nearly million-dollar tab for a property that wasn't worth nearly that much, it reverted back to the bank.
Jumaane Williams Brooklyn home foreclosure: The "Slumlord" vs. "Victim" debate
Politics in New York is never quiet. Williams’ opponents, most notably Assemblywoman Jennifer Rajkumar during the 2025 Public Advocate primary, jumped on the foreclosure as proof of "pure hypocrisy." They pointed to his history of suing landlords and argued that while he was calling out others for neglect, he was failing to manage his own property.
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One former tenant, Andre Thompson, didn't have kind words for the Public Advocate's management style either. He told The New York Post that Williams was rarely around and slow to make repairs, eventually leading Thompson to stop paying rent.
Williams, however, sees it very differently.
His team has consistently framed the situation as a textbook example of predatory lending. During a heated PIX11 debate in June 2025, Williams explained that he was a victim of the subprime mortgage crisis. He argued that his loan was "exploitative" and that his struggle mirrored what thousands of other Black and Brown New Yorkers faced during the housing collapse.
"I was in my 20s... chasing a dream. Like many young Black New Yorkers at that time, I ended up in a subprime exploitative loan." — Jumaane Williams, 2025.
He also pushed back on the "slumlord" narrative, stating clearly that he had never actually evicted his tenants, despite the non-payment issues.
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Why this case still matters in 2026
The Jumaane Williams Brooklyn home foreclosure isn't just a "gotcha" moment for political rivals. It highlights a massive, systemic issue in New York City real estate: the "zombie" foreclosure.
It took eleven years from the initial 2014 foreclosure filing for the bank to actually take possession of the property. In New York, the legal hurdles to finish a foreclosure are notoriously high. For some, these protections are a lifeline that keeps families in their homes. For others, it's a loophole that allows property owners to sit on debt for a decade without consequence.
The broader impact on NYC policy
Interestingly, Williams hasn't shied away from housing policy despite his personal troubles. In late 2025 and into 2026, he has been a vocal supporter of:
- Reforming the Tax Lien Sale: Moving away from selling debt to private trusts and toward "land banks" that prioritize keeping people in their homes.
- The Worst Landlord Accountability Act: Legislation aimed at stopping landlords from "self-certifying" repairs.
- Deed Theft Prevention: Pushing for more education and outreach to prevent scammers from stealing equity from aging homeowners.
Lessons learned for Brooklyn homeowners
Whether you view Williams as a victim of a rigged banking system or a public official who failed to handle his personal business, there are some very real takeaways here.
If you find yourself in a similar situation, don't go dark. One of the biggest mistakes in the Williams case was the sheer length of time the debt was allowed to compound. If you have an old Countrywide or Bank of America loan that feels "predatory," there are legal avenues to challenge the terms before the debt triples.
Also, keep your records straight. If you're a landlord, even a "casual" one with a single investment property, you have to treat it like a business. If a tenant stops paying, you need a legal paper trail immediately. If you don't, you end up like Williams—caught between a bank that wants its money and a tenant who isn't providing the income to pay them.
What you can do next:
If you're worried about your own mortgage or facing a potential foreclosure in NYC, check your eligibility for the Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF) or contact the Center for NYC Neighborhoods. They provide free legal advice and can help you navigate the same "predatory" waters that eventually sank Williams' Brooklyn investment.