Competition with Uber sparks audit of taxi lenders

State regulators are conducting sweeping audits of the credit unions financing the teetering yellow-taxi industry, which is losing business to app-based car-hail services such as Uber, The Post has learned.
The state Department of Financial Services is digging through the books of the troubled Melrose Credit Union, the Progressive Credit Union and the LOMTO Credit Union, insiders familiar with the probe said.
Regulators from the Cuomo administration have been quietly inspecting the records of the financial institutions — which make loans for the purchase of taxi medallions — since earlier this month.
Many of these loans are now underwater. Even a millionaire financier who owns dozens of medallions, Gene Freidman, has filed for bankruptcy protection.
DFS officials tipped their hand Friday, when they took possession of the Montauk Credit Union, the smallest of the taxi funders.
Industry officials now worry about a domino effect leading to more government takeovers or mergers of the credit unions.
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