Major NYC Landlord Puts Thousands of Units in Bankruptcy (1)

Joel Wiener, a major owner of New York City apartments, has put properties with thousands of residential units into bankruptcy months after a bank sought to foreclose on them.

Numerous property holding companies tied to Wiener’s Pinnacle Group sought court protection Wednesday in New York. The properties listed assets and liabilities of between $500 million and $1 billion on Chapter 11 petitions, each of which was signed by Wiener, who is Pinnacle’s chief executive officer.

The bankruptcies were filed months after Flagstar Bank initiated foreclosure actions in state court against the properties. Filing Chapter 11 immediately pauses legal ...