NY Landlords Plead Guilty for Defrauding Tenants

Two Brooklyn landlords pled guilty to scheme to defraud and unlawful eviction for forcing or attempting to force rent-stabilized tenants out of their homes by destroying their apartments and making them uninhabitable in order to collect significantly higher market-rate. The Governor’s Tenant Protection Unit initiated the investigation concerning allegations of extreme harassment and intimidation in many of the approximately ten buildings owned and managed by Joel and Amrom (aka Aaron) Israel in Bushwick, Williamsburg, and Greenpoint, and that resulted in the Unit referring the case to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office for criminal prosecution. Class actions making similar allegations have been filed against other landlords for attempting to violate rent control regulations. For more information, click here.