The New York Times released a sprawling, three-part
investigation about the rental market in New York City over the weekend, with
in-depth reporting on the fragile condition of the city’s rent laws, how
landlords exploit them and how government agencies fail to protect tenants. And
in doing so, the Times shined a light on a handful of landlords who are
allegedly part of that problem, some already notorious and others with little
name recognition. While the investigation references convicted landlords like Steve
Croman and Daniel Melamed, here are some other industry figures who have
received less scrutiny.
Meyer Orbach (Orbach Group)
In 2010, Orbach’s real estate company bought the better part
of a block of West 109th Street for $76 million and quickly moved to evict
dozens of tenants from rent-regulated apartments there. But the lawsuits filed
by Orbach often took the form of dubious claims, according to the Times. In one
instance, it sought to evict a tenant for “subletting” rooms to relatives who
had already been living with him for 19 years. After two years of court battles
the man took a $50,000 buyout and decided to leave. “I was sick of fighting
with them and sick of the harassment,” he said. That apartment, which had cost
$1,141 a month, is a lost affordable unit that now rents for $4,200. In another
case, Orbach alleged that a rent-regulated tenant it sought to evict kept her
apartment “inaccessible and uninhabitable” and full of newspapers and trash.
Photo evidence suggested otherwise, but the Times did find that Orbach had left
the apartment in a state of disrepair, with moldy walls and sagging ceilings.
Orbach sued 182 tenants between 2008 and 2010 (a third of
apartments it owned), many of them holdover cases in which the landlord tries
to prove that tenant has no legitimate claim to a lease. Housing legal experts
told the Times that filing a holdover requires little evidence but can tie up a
tenant in court for years. A spokesperson for Orbach told the Times that the
company is “deeply committed to affordable housing.”
E&M Associates
E&M Associates, the investment company founded by Irving
Langer, bought the Dunbar apartments in Harlem in 2013 from landlord Pinnacle
Group, which was settling one of the largest tenant class actions suits ever
brought. The Times reported that E&M has adopted an aggressive strategy to
push tenants out of “the nation’s first large housing cooperate for
African-Americans.” The Times found a website for E&M that boasted its
strategy of approaching rental homes “from an investor’s point of view, seeking
to understand the underlying intrinsic value of the property, as well as the
steps that must be taken to unlock that value.” E&M took down the website
following inquiries from the Times and claimed that it had not been involved
with the Dunbar apartments since 2017. The Times found that dozens of longtime
tenants left the Dunbar after being sued by E&M. Some tenants were behind
on rent, while others were refusing to pay rent until E&M made repairs to
their apartments. Some tenants appear to have been sued even if they were not
behind on rent. Tenants told the Times that the only way they thought they
could get E&M to repair their apartments was to stop paying rent, get sued
and the have an opportunity to explain the problem to a judge. “They sent an
unlicensed person to fix my ceiling. And just as quick as he fixed it, the
ceiling fell again,” one tenant said.
Green & Cohen
This landlord law firm is not the largest in town, but it
has done work for the likes of Orbach and E&M. The Times found that some of
its lawsuits against tenants were sloppy and inaccurate, with incorrect tenants
and rent information as well as incorrect supporting documents. In fact, a 2015
federal lawsuit against Green & Cohen alleged the firm used “the same
template for all the hundreds of cases that they filed against tenants within
the State of New York within the past year.” It is rare for landlord-hired law
firms to faces consequences for such filings: between 2011 and 2016 fewer than
50 landlords or landlord attorneys were sanctioned by the court. The firm did
not comment for the Times story.
Atelier New York
The Times investigation found that this architecture firm
has become a go-to for landlords filing permits for heavy renovation work, but
reporting it as light renovation work, potentially putting tenants at safety
risks. Clients include Ben Shaoul’s Magnum Real Estate and Sabet Group. Atelier
principal Ken Hudes denied any wrongdoing. Architects at the firm have
temporarily surrendered privileges in response to disciplinary actions, but
such punishments are ineffective, as architect privileges can simply be passed
from one firm member to another and work won’t be interrupted. Often times
landlords are not even filing permits for such construction work, the Times
found, only rushing to file permits once tenants complain to the DOB. The Times
found that the DOB is slow to recover fines to issues to landlords who it finds
are using deceptive construction practices for the purposes of tenant
harassment. Of $1.8 million in outstanding fines issued since September 2017,
about $280,000 have been paid and the median fine totals just $2,400.
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