Kushner Cos. Hit With Lawsuit Over Skirting Rent Control Regulations
Kushner Cos. has been hit with a class-action lawsuit alleging the company has violated rent stabilization laws in New York City.
The nonprofit Housing Rights Initiative, represented by law firm Newman Ferrara, filed in New York State Supreme Court on behalf of a group of Brooklyn tenants who have been subject to a “systematic effort to illegally overcharge tenants and remove affordable apartments from rent regulation,ˮ HRI told Real Estate Weekly.
“Kushner Cos. is the Houdini of real estate,” HRI founder and Executive Director Aaron Carr told REW. "They can take any building and make all of its affordability disappear."
New York City law generally stipulates that multifamily buildings built before 1974 containing more than six units be subject to strict controls on rent increases. In one case, HRI found that Kushner Cos. charged tenants $2,500 per month for units legally limited to $1,100 per month.
Jared Kushner, senior adviser and son-in-law to President Donald Trump, removed himself from day-to-day operations of Kushner Cos. when he joined the president's staff, but still retains an ownership stake in the company.
