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THE BRONX, NEW YORK--Slumlords will have a tougher time doing business in the Bronx because of a deal set in May between leaders of the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition and North Fork Bank.

North Fork, which holds hundreds of millions of dollars in mortgages throughout New York, has agreed to conduct thorough inspections of apartment buildings where they hold the mortgage.

Tenant leaders kept finding that North Fork had lent money to their landlords to either purchase the building or to 'fix it up' starting about three years ago. Later research would show that the bank held a huge number of mortgages on multifamily buildings in the area--they were responsible for more than 10 percent!

While some of the buildings were in good shape, others were a nightmare. David Wallk, the owner of 2150 Creston Avenue, was infamous for harassing tenants in the building and skipping out on all repairs. Tenants in 4575 Park Avenue had to share their fire-ridden building with monster rats. Michael Goldberg had pulled down North Fork money for several of his buildings while coolly informing tenants that they were to blame for all of the problems in their buildings. Tenants in 240 Mount Hope Place were dealing with poor plumbing and a faulty elevator while their landlord considered taking out another North Fork loan. The message was clear: slumlords were getting loans from North Fork.

The Coalition launched an assault on several fronts. First, tenants in each of the building shot video footage of the worst buildings, making a compilation that was later released to several television news reporters. Next, North Fork was contacted to set a meeting with the CEO.

The bank wasn't sure they wanted to do business, but the tenants were more than sure enough for both parties. When North Fork began to play games, the Bronx Coalition's housing committee filed a CRA comment against the bank's proposed merger with another big bank. At the Housing Committee office, the phone began to ring. North Fork was ready to negotiate.

The results of the May meeting had North Fork and the Coalition agreeing on several steps the bank would take in the future to make sure that the buildings stayed in good condition.

"North Fork tried to mess with us at first," said Bevon Dabrio of the Housing Committee, "but they soon learned that we were not interested in toying around. We've reached an agreement that will be keeping them very busy over the months to come."

The Coalition is beginning to put pressure on other area lenders to clean up their act as well. Astoria Federal Savings has been involved in negotiations with tenants on one of their mortgage properties. First Bank of Beverly Hills, who know by now that 90210 is not a Bronx zip code, served one of their mortgagors with notice of foreclosure because the building is such a wreck.

Housing Committee Chair Yolanda Vann sums it up well: "If you want to be a bank that lends responsibly in our neighborhoods, we'll roll out the welcome mat for you. But once you start giving money to those slumlords, well, you will find out that we don't play that. The Northwest Bronx will come marching in."