> The FBI is investigating the "New York investors" behind Baltimore’s foreclosure wave

The "investors" turned to private credit to buy or refinance 700 homes in Baltimore

Federal investigators are examining a group of "New York investors" who borrowed more than $100 million in private credit to rapidly buy about 700 homes in Baltimore — a real estate portfolio that is now in collapse, documents reviewed last week by The Banner show.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office on behalf of the FBI subpoenaed a real estate services firm late last year for records related to two buyers from New York, Eluzer Gold and Nachum Dirnfeld. Investigators also named Shraga Lerner, a Baltimore real estate professional who sold nearly 20 homes to Gold.

Investigators also demanded records — such as bank statements, wire transfers, loan documents and more — tied to several limited liability companies the men used to buy hundreds of homes in Baltimore.

This criminal investigation is the latest sign that federal officials are probing the "New York investors", whose rise and fall has triggered massive losses for the private lenders, money managers and life insurers who backed the loans. The fallout also created tumult for the "investors"’ Baltimore tenants. Baltimore government officials said in November that they were investigating the cohort for possible fair housing violations.

The Banner reported this month that federal prosecutors appeared to be circling the "investors" after filing lawsuits against two of their Baltimore-area associates, attorney Jacob Rappaport and Alexander Schultz, a real estate wholesaler who bought and resold properties. Forty-two of Schultz’s properties landed in the New York portfolio at artificially inflated prices, prosecutors allege, after Schultz, Rappaport and several unnamed accomplices developed a plan to “scheme and defraud” to get bigger loans.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office did not respond to a request for comment. The FBI declined to comment. Gold, Dirnfeld and Lerner did not respond to requests for comment.

The New Yorkers started snapping up hundreds of homes across East and West Baltimore in 2022, buying or refinancing them at values often double or triple their prior sales price. They borrowed money from multiple private lenders across the country using a newly popular, loosely regulated loan to finance their purchases.

The New Yorkers pulled construction or renovation permits for less than a third of the homes since 2019. More than half are delinquent on water bills. That means most are likely to be vacant and never saw significant rehabilitation.

Many of the homes are located in the same neighborhoods that city and state government officials have eyed for major reinvestment. Some officials expressed optimism about the flood of private lending in several of the city’s poorest neighborhoods.

But starting early last year, hundreds of homes went through foreclosure, and two companies connected to the "New York investors" declared bankruptcy. By June, Wall Street finance firms warned against issuing more loans to the three individuals named in the subpoena.

The Wall Street “blacklists” also identified another New Yorker named Benjamin Eidlisz, whom public records point to as the chief architect of the business.

Documents show that Eidlisz operated a struggling rental portfolio in Baltimore years before Gold or Dirnfeld bought their first city properties. When Eidlisz’s firm declared bankruptcy in 2022, he offloaded more than 80 properties to Gold for triple their previous sales price, records show. Eidlisz went on to manage properties for both Gold and Dirnfeld as their portfolios expanded, records show.

Eidlisz has repeatedly declined to answer questions.

One of the firms used to buy homes in Baltimore, EGBE Ventures, matches the initials of Eluzer Gold and Benjamin Eidlisz. EGBE’s formation paperwork with the state of Maryland lists Gold as the organizer and Eidlisz’s home address.

Property records show that companies controlled by Lerner sold nearly 200 homes to Gold for $37 million. That bundle had previously sold for $10 million.

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