A New York-backed lender is turning up the heat on a cluster of South Side landlords, firing off a fresh round of foreclosure suits in Cook County that could roil neighborhoods from South Shore to Roseland. An affiliate of Churchill has moved against dozens of apartment buildings tied to indicted attorney Mark Nussbaum and his Chicago partner, Eliazer Tauber, putting hundreds of tenants on edge and speeding up potential ownership shakeups.
Churchill affiliate presses suits
Public filings and court records show that Tryon Street Acquisition Trust, a Churchill affiliate, has filed dozens of foreclosure lawsuits in Cook County against companies controlled by Nussbaum, Tauber and several out-of-state investors, with the newest cases landing between October and March. Those filings line up at least 32 foreclosure actions connected to the group, more than $25 million of mortgage debt tied to Nussbaum and Tauber, and a plan by Tryon to foreclose on 20 of roughly 37 allegedly non-performing properties. For the larger group of five investors, public records put the total debt now in foreclosure at about $36 million while the Cook County Board of Review has assigned a combined assessed value of roughly $28.2 million, a sharp mismatch that lenders are now pressing in court, according to The Real Deal.
How Churchill and Tryon operate
Churchill markets itself as a specialist in lender finance and short-term residential transition loans, according to Churchill Real Estate. Its Tryon Street affiliate has been active beyond Illinois as well, including sheriff-sale listings tied to properties in Lee County, Florida, according to Business Observer.
Valuation gap threatens South Side buildings
Local property and tax records highlight a recurring problem in these deals: loans written to reflect aggressive upside that never showed up, stacked on top of modestly assessed buildings. Once lenders start pushing foreclosures, owners often lose the financial room to keep up with repairs and improvements, and tenants can be left with deferred maintenance and a lot of uncertainty while notes change hands or courts sort out who actually owns what.
Legal backdrop: Nussbaum's indictment
Mark Nussbaum was arraigned in May 2025 on criminal accusations that he diverted more than $15 million from client escrow accounts; he has pleaded not guilty. Recent legal filings also allege he routed hundreds of millions of dollars to an investor named Mendel Steiner, according to The Real Deal. The criminal case, paired with a wave of civil collection actions, has only intensified pressure on Chicago holdings tied to Nussbaum and his partners, raising the odds that lenders will steer properties into auction or sell off troubled notes to outside buyers.
What renters and investors should watch
Tenants in the affected buildings should keep an eye out for official notices from property managers or the court, since foreclosure judgments and sales can change who is responsible for maintenance and where the rent checks go. Investors and local officials, meanwhile, can expect brisk trading in loan notes and renewed questions about code enforcement as the ownership shuffle plays out in court.
