Bankruptcy Filing Affidavit Claims the Price of NYC Taxi Medallions As Low As $250,000

A recent Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing of a taxi medallion owner placed the value for New York City (NYC) taxi medallions as low as $250,000.

Evgeny Freidman on November 14 filed for bankruptcy protection regarding three New York City taxi medallions.

According to the affidavit, the entry of Uber and Lyft into the New York market has caused taxi revenues to fall by 45 percentt,

As a result, "Medallion owners ... can no longer demand the $2,000 or $2,500 per month rent per Medallion lease." The going lease rate is now about $1,500 per month.

This decline in revenues has caused taxi medallion values to plummet precipitously.

According to the affidavit,

The current value of the Medallions is based on sales, and is difficult to determine, but without question it has fallen precipitously since the February 2014 TLC auction prices. Based on some recent auction results, the value is perhaps as low as $250,000 each, but certainly, in my opinion, no more than $500,000 each.

If the price of taxi medallions is $250,000, this could signify large potential losses to the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund from undercapitalized taxi medallion lending credit unions.

Read the court filing.