Lenders Accuse Nord Group Entities Of Pocketing Rents, Faking Insurance As Multifamily Empire Crumbles

Magistrate Judge Andrew Edison had run out of patience.

He had just heard arguments from attorneys for Freddie Mac, which had foreclosed on a 228-unit apartment complex in Lake Jackson, Texas, claiming that the property’s previous owner was still collecting rents.

The owner, a subsidiary of New York-based Nord Group, had stopped making mortgage payments 18 months earlier. But it nevertheless sued its lender over alleged breach of contract, eventually claiming that it still legally possessed the property after foreclosure due to a technicality. 

Edison wasn’t amused, calling the behavior “pretty damn egregious.” 

“I mean, come on,” Edison said during a May 26 hearing. “The property has been foreclosed. Get out of the damn property. Stop taking money that doesn’t belong to you.” 

A fed-up federal judge is just one of a host of issues piling up for Nord Group and its 27-year-old CEO and co-founder, Saqif Noor. 

Lenders and investors have accused Nord entities of stealing rents, providing fake insurance records and keeping buildings in an “alarming state of neglect that poses serious health, safety and habitability concerns.” Court filings detail hazards including sewage backups, mold, vermin and cat feces rendering apartments unlivable.

Nord Group is one of many investors that spent heavily on apartments in the ultralow-interest-rate environment of 2021 and 2022, but its collapse stands out for the apparent deception behind its buying spree and the rapid deterioration of its properties.

Investigators are circling, and Nord’s 11-property portfolio built between 2021 and 2023, fueled by nearly $400M in largely government-backed debt, is slipping out of its grasp.

In phone calls in February and April with an investor, recordings of which were shared with Bisnow, Noor said he signed for his father on loan documents, that the FBI has questioned his former partner, and that he’s pretty sure he will spend time behind bars. 

“I think camp time is inevitable. It’s inevitable. It’s going to happen,” Noor said on the call. “Prison time. Camp sounds a little nicer.” 

In an email to Bisnow, Noor denied these conversations took place. His former partner, Baruch Teitelbaum, denied being questioned by the FBI. 

When presented with a detailed list of questions, Noor wrote, “A lot of the info here on your email seem to be baseless & false,” and referred comment on Nord litigation to his attorney. Noor didn’t respond to follow-up questions.

Nord Group and its subsidiaries have been party to at least two dozen lawsuits, bankruptcy cases and appeals since late 2023, according to hundreds of pages of court records reviewed by Bisnow.

Numerous cases have been dismissed or halted by bankruptcy proceedings, but at least five remain open, including litigation with Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae and lawsuits from residents who allege negligence resulting in the drowning of a child and a man being shot. 

A Nord entity denied responsibility in the drowning case. Nord Group never responded in the shooting case, filed last October, and this week was ordered to pay a $6.6M default judgment to the alleged victim.

“The Nord Group provides housing for thousands of working-class Americans and is proud of their role in the communities they serve,” Nord’s attorney, Jason Kraus, said in a statement. 

“We cannot comment on any pending court cases and will not litigate through the media, but please understand that mere allegations in lawsuits are just that — allegations specifically drafted to inflame, gain media attention and are not proven facts. The Nord Group of companies vigorously denies all allegations and will continue to defend itself in court.”

Noor started Nord Group with backing from his father, Dr. Khaled Noor, and in partnership with Teitelbaum, a Brooklyn-based investor. At its peak, Nord’s holdings totaled more than 4,000 units, with 10 complexes in Texas and one in Ohio. 

While Khaled Noor was listed as an adviser on Nord Group’s website and his name appears on loan documents for at least six of the 11 properties listed in Nord Group’s portfolio, Saqif Noor told the investor on a Feb. 6 call that his father was only involved on paper. Bisnow isn’t naming the investor at his request to limit interference with investigations and to protect his privacy.

“I just hope that he’s not going to be placed in any trouble legally, because he truly was never involved,” Saqif Noor said of his father during the February call. 

“Like, I signed for him,” he added. 

Khaled Noor didn’t respond to a request for comment. 

Teitelbaum, whose name appears on a majority of loan and court documents affiliated with Nord’s portfolio, said he is no longer involved with the company and declined to comment. 

When asked when he left the firm, Teitelbaum replied, “I made the decision a while back for internal business reasons.”

Origins

Saqif Noor grew up in three countries and speaks five languages, according to his biography on Nord Group’s website, which was taken offline after Bisnow sent him a list of questions. He started acquiring multifamily properties as a teenager, inspired and guided by his father, a medical doctor who first invested in multifamily properties in the early 2000s by syndicating funds from his co-workers. 

Saqif Noor also said on the call with the investor that he learned real estate from other figures, including New York attorney Mark Nussbaum.

Saqif Noor said during the April call that he acquired properties with very little equity by using a double-closing method that he learned from Nussbaum, who was disbarred and charged with grand larceny in 2025. 

“[It’s] a trick in the Hasidic community,” Saqif Noor said on the April phone call obtained by Bisnow, adding that Nussbaum said it wasn’t illegal but “gray.” 

Two lenders sued Nussbaum and others, including title company Riverside Abstract, for allegedly using client escrow funds to inflate property values, secure loans based on them and take illicit profits. One of the transactions cited in the lawsuit as an example was the 2023 purchase of Park at Crestview in Austin.

Teitelbaum and Khaled Noor are named on the original loan agreement for the Austin property, which property records show was foreclosed on in May. The names of Nussbaum’s firm or Riverside Abstract appear on at least three closing or loan documents for Nord Group properties, including Park at Crestview. 

Nord’s affiliate bought the Class-B apartment complex in May 2023 with a $42M Fannie Mae loan during the heyday of pandemic-era investment, when interest rates were near zero, values were inflated and highly leveraged financing was easy to secure. There were $335B of multifamily sales in 2021, an all-time high.

“There was an immense amount of new supply that came in, and everybody was struggling with rent payments, concessions being high, expenses going through the roof, and water and plumbing issues on these 1980s properties,” Saqif Noor said in the April investor call. “All of those things were unaccounted for. It came from a lack of experience.”

That inexperience is what Nord entities cited in Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings for three properties in 2024, along with mismanagement. They largely blamed their financial strain on Houston-based property management company Better World Properties, which they sued and battled in court for more than a year before withdrawing their allegations. 

Under an April 2025 bankruptcy settlement, Saqif Noor, Khaled Noor and Teitelbaum agreed to pay Better World $300K. Saqif Noor and Teitelbaum also signed an apology letter to Better World as part of the settlement, admitting “the claims that we made were not and are not meritorious.” 

Nord took its property management in-house through Nord Management in 2023, Saqif Noor said on a May 2024 due diligence call, according to a video recording of the call reviewed by Bisnow. He said the properties it acquired were profitable, but the firm had been “frustrated” with third-party management because it offered 401(k)s, health insurance, dental insurance and pet insurance to staff.

“Anything and everything, down to the porter. The porter doesn’t need that,” Saqif Noor said on the due diligence call. “Why are you spending my money?”

Fallout

Each LLC that owned a Nord property has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy since 2024 while carrying almost $386M combined in mortgage debt. Seven of the properties have been foreclosed on this year, but Nord’s affiliates are still clinging to the four remaining assets.

Fannie Mae sued Nord ownership entities over five Houston properties in January, following alleged loan defaults. The next month, a judge agreed to appoint a receiver to manage the apartments during the litigation.

Teams of property managers were deployed simultaneously to take over the complexes across Houston, according to a report filed by the court-appointed receiver. 

The managers found paying residents living among squatters and rodents, the receiver wrote. Multiple buildings lacked hot water and had leaky roofs and rotting wood.

The Nord Management team immediately resisted, remotely locking the computers within minutes of takeover staff arriving so they couldn’t access rent rolls or any financial information, according to the report filed by The Madison Real Estate Group. 

During the initial takeover, at Toro Place, a 44-year-old, 23-building garden apartment complex in Southwest Houston, the resistance allegedly escalated to violence. Two people forced their way into the leasing office and stole a grill and propane tank, physically assaulting takeover staff in the process, according to the report.

Seven months later, the Nord parties have still made no effort to cooperate with the receivership, according to an Oct. 5 status update from Fannie Mae in Texas’ 14th Court of Appeals. 

Fierce resistance to its lenders’ attempts to collect on delinquent mortgages has been a consistent theme across the trail of litigation following Nord-controlled entities.

Freddie Mac claims a Nord-controlled entity, 514 That Way LLC, stopped paying the mortgage in November 2024 on Edgewater Apartments in Lake Jackson, Texas, but continued collecting more than $200K in monthly rent that legally belonged to Freddie Mac. 

The LLC sued Freddie Mac in March, arguing that the government-backed lender wrongly accused the landlord of defaulting on its loans, claiming contractors it had hired didn’t perform services and “had placed dubious mechanics liens.”

After delays caused by the lawsuit and a bankruptcy filing, Freddie Mac foreclosed on the property in May, the filings show.

“Despite receiving a written demand to vacate by May 11, 2026, That Way refuses to leave and continues to steal rental income,” Freddie Mac’s attorneys wrote in a May 22 court filing.

Kraus, the attorney representing Nord’s LLC, argued in a filing that foreclosure itself doesn’t give the new owner possession of the property and that Texas law requires the new owner to file a forcible detainer suit. 

At a hearing on May 26, Judge Edison was mystified by the argument.

“This really is one of those cases where I look at and I go, ‘What in the world is 514 That Way doing?’” Edison said, according to a transcript filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

Edison declined to issue a ruling on procedural grounds but said the Nord affiliate “will have to face the legal consequences later on.”

Freddie Mac also claimed rental theft in a case where it is being sued by Nord LLCs that own two properties in San Antonio. In that case, the building’s owners “have serially misused the courts to delay foreclosure while continuing to collect rents that belong to Freddie Mac,” the lender’s attorneys wrote in a May 11 filing.

“It sounds really bad,” said James Silver, a Florida attorney who isn’t involved in any of the lawsuits but who reviewed case records at Bisnow‘s request. 

Silver has 40 years of experience in business bankruptcy and creditors’ rights.

A court typically appoints a receiver to take control of a property in financial trouble in an effort to assume management responsibilities and preserve the property’s value. 

“[It sounds] like they’re undermining the receivership and not complying with what I assume to be lawful orders of a court with jurisdiction over the property,” Silver said. 

Fannie Mae’s Harris County case is on hold due to an appeal. That case was on hold due to the bankruptcy case of the LLC that owns Huntington Glen, the only property from Fannie Mae’s case that it hasn’t yet foreclosed on.

Huntington Glen has filed for bankruptcy in Delaware, New York and Texas, according to Bisnow’s review of federal court records. Its last active bankruptcy case was dismissed in May. The appeals case was reinstated in September.

“Appellants never complied with any material provision of the Receivership Order and have not cured any of the violations detailed in the Motion to Compel,” Fannie Mae said in its Oct. 5 status update. “To the contrary, the record of noncompliance has only worsened.” 

In various cases, Nord-related entities argue that they aren’t acting in bad faith but rather pursuing bankruptcy to prevent foreclosure, which would mean losing their equity in properties. In theory, they could reorganize and retain ownership interests through a sale, refinancing and/or infusion of capital.

But the growing scrutiny of Nord’s investments has revealed a pattern of apparent deception tied to the properties’ insurance coverage, or lack thereof.

After Madison secured the five Houston-area complexes, it couldn’t find active insurance policies, according to its report. Fannie Mae provided copies of insurance certificates it believed to be in place, but further investigation with the insurance providers showed the policy numbers didn’t match with the properties.

New York attorney Leo Jacobs cited a similar situation in February when he withdrew as counsel for the bankruptcy of a Nord subsidiary that bought an apartment complex in Euclid, Ohio. 

Along with Euclid Apts LLC “repeatedly not cooperating,” the lender in that case said false insurance certificates it discovered “may raise issues” under federal bankruptcy fraud law, Jacobs wrote in a filing.

Nord Group is seemingly still refusing to vacate the Lake Jackson property and the San Antonio complexes, even as conditions for their residents worsen.

Walker & Dunlop visited the San Antonio properties on May 12 and found them to have deteriorated “at an alarming rate,” it said in a motion to appoint a receiver, which was granted on July 10. The firm found mold, damaged balcony railings, plumbing failures, structural defects in multiple staircases, including one “completely detached from the building,” and a lack of hot water. 

‘They’re Never Going To Get Their Money’

Despite his companies’ aggressive attempts to retain control over the properties, Saqif Noor in April told the investor he expects to lose them to his lenders, which would then calculate a financial loss and sue for the final amount.

“We’re still a good year out before they’re going to sue us and eventually win,” Noor said in the recorded phone call. “And they’ll get a judgment in our name. Fine. It’s not like we’re going to do anything with that judgment. Between you and me, they’re never going to get their money.” 

Sanford Brown, a Dallas-based accredited investor, is familiar with that experience after investing in the Edgewater Apartments in Lake Jackson and Park at Crestview in Austin.

He sued Saqif Noor, Nord Group and others in 2024, then settled with the parties out of court. Noor and the others didn’t comply with the repayment plan, so Brown sued again in April 2025 to enforce the settlement agreement.

He won that case in June when the defendants failed to show up to court. After investing about $600K, he said he is still out about $400K and hasn’t been paid back, despite the judgments. He said he doubts federal investigators would be concerned with that relatively small amount, but it is impactful to him.

“My investment is a lot of money to me,” Brown said.

The investor who shared the recordings with Bisnow said he has had regular contact and multiple meetings with Securities and Exchange Commission investigators regarding Nord Group. The SEC declined to comment. 

Allegations of bankruptcy fraud would be investigated and prosecuted by the U.S. Trustee Program and the Department of Justice, Silver said. Those agencies also declined to comment on whether an investigation exists.

In civil court, creditors’ options for relief are limited when debtors seek to delay proceedings or act in bad faith, Silver said.

“There are always clever people out there trying to find ways to manipulate the system in a manner for which it’s not intended,” he said. 

Civil litigants can’t threaten each other with criminal prosecution, as that would be extortion, but they can report any suspected illegal activity to the appropriate authorities, he said.

Generally, the best option a lender has is to argue its case to each judge in each bankruptcy or lawsuit and hope the judge sees its side and grants relief, which would come in the form of bankruptcy case dismissal. That can take weeks or months, Silver said.

“It may just take some time before the judge fully sees it, as you’re trying to marshal the facts and make the arguments to help the judge see it,” he said. 

At least three Nord Group entities’ bankruptcy cases have been dismissed this year.

The status of the litigation with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and whether the lenders have contacted federal investigators, is unclear. Neither agency responded to requests for comment. 

Saqif Noor told the investor he wants to minimize reputational damage, and he maintains that he didn’t steal from anyone and wants to repay every investment he lost. Three investors Bisnow spoke to said Noor told them they’d be paid back, but they have serious doubts. 

“The problem is that the internet is written in ink. … Bankruptcy is one thing, but fraud is a totally different thing,” Noor said in the April call. “I am too young for that to be written on the internet. It does not serve you any good if I have reputational damage and it becomes significantly more difficult for me to raise myself back up. Then I cannot pay you back.”

But Noor said he thinks prison time is inevitable, and he has talked to people about what the experience would be like.

“In all honesty, it doesn’t sound too bad,” Noor said during the April call. “You have a full court there, a full gym, food. You get to basically be in a retreat for, call it five, six months away from the world. I always wanted to do a monk retreat.”