New York – NY State Settles With Brooklyn Landlord To End Harassment Of Rent-regulated Tenants In Flatbush, Crown Heights

Brooklyn, NY – Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that the State’s Tenant Protection Unit has signed an agreement that will end the reported harassment and intimidation of long-term tenants at several rent-regulated buildings in the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Flatbush and Crown Heights.

The landlord of these buildings, Yeshaya Wasserman, had purportedly been engaging in a pattern of abusive behavior and flagrant violation of rent laws.

“Everyone deserves a safe, affordable place to live and this administration will not tolerate landlords who seek to harass and bully tenants out of their homes,” Governor Cuomo said. “We created the Tenant Protection Unit to make it clear to all landlords that the State would hold them accountable for their actions. This settlement is tough, fair and should serve as a reminder that our administration is not afraid to stand up for all New Yorkers.”

The steps outlined in the agreement cover Wasserman’s entire portfolio and include: changing the owner’s business policies and procedures to ensure future compliance with rent laws; monitoring the landlord’s practices for up to three years by an independent monitor at the owner’s expense; and the establishment of a fund to compensate mistreated tenants. The agreement is similar to one the TPU previously signed with Castellan Real Estate Partners, a settlement announced by Governor Cuomo in January.

“The TPU has done it again,” said Darryl C. Towns, Commissioner/CEO of New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR), which includes the TPU. “In the face of rapidly changing New York City neighborhoods, today’s announcement continues the TPU’s efforts and will help stem the loss of affordable housing in working and middle-class neighborhoods by addressing illegality and ensuring that long-term tenants can stay in their homes if they so choose. Landlords who violate the State’s rent laws should know that thanks to the Governor and the TPU, they are being watched and will be held accountable.”

In October 2013, the TPU served a subpoena on Wasserman, a landlord who was reportedly violating the rights of long-term rent-regulated tenants in Flatbush and Crown Heights. The subpoena demanded documents and records from Homewood Gardens and seven other properties with approximately 180 units, owned and managed by Wasserman.

Long-term tenants at Homewood Gardens (651-667 Brooklyn Avenue, 652-668 Brooklyn Avenue and 416-444 Hawthorne Street), most of whom are African-American or Caribbean-American, contacted the TPU through the Flatbush Tenant Coalition. They claimed the landlord was victimizing them by failing to cash rent checks, pressuring tenants to vacate their apartments, and subjecting tenants to frivolous housing court proceedings.

The TPU noted that these practices mostly affected long-term tenants, some of whom have lived in their apartments for more than twenty years and have built a strong and close-knit community. Their allegations included that the landlord had held and not cashed rent checks (in hopes that tenants wouldn’t have the necessary back rent when they were eventually brought to housing court), had ignored or delayed requests for repairs, had done shoddy repair work or offered meager buyouts to have tenants vacate their apartments.

Additionally, in April 2014, the tenants of Homewood Gardens, who are largely black, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit claiming that Wasserman was trying to force them out to collect higher rents from more affluent white tenants. That case, brought by South Brooklyn Legal Services, is separate from today’s TPU announcement and is still ongoing.

As part of the TPU’s broad-based corporate compliance settlement model, Wasserman and his company are required to take the following actions:

•Hire a monitor (to be paid for by Wasserman and approved by the TPU) for up to three years to ensure compliance with the new policies and procedures of the settlement agreement. The monitor will audit all rents set by the landlord following a vacancy to ensure that affordable apartments remain in the system where appropriate. Like the overall agreement, the TPU approved monitor’s purview will be the landlord’s entire portfolio of buildings, including those he may purchase in the course of the agreement’s term.

•Establish a monetary fund of $60,000, administered by the TPU approved monitor, to compensate tenants who may have been subject to wrongful conduct.

•Establish new written business policies and procedures that address the landlord’s previous improper actions, and protect all current and future tenants from possible future abuse and violations of law.

•Have all of its employees undergo training (at Wasserman’s expense) to prevent future potential abuses of tenants and ensure the landlord’s accountability.