Kushner Cos. Hit With Another Rent Stabilization Lawsuit In Brooklyn
The hits keep on coming for Kushner Cos., as another court case has been launched against the company.
Nonprofit group Housing Rights Initiative has filed its second lawsuit against Kushner Cos., alleging the company illegally removed rent stabilization in properties it acquired, this time for two former Brooklyn Law School dorms at 18 Sidney Place and 144 Willow St. in Brooklyn Heights, The Real Deal reports. The two were rent-stabilized apartment buildings until 1991, when they were converted into dorms.
Kushner Cos. purchased the two buildings in 2014 for a total of $7.6M. When the company put them up for sale asking $20M this year, the buildings were filled with market-rate rentals, with a one-bedroom apartment at 18 Sidney Place listed for $3,800/month on Streeteasy. Six current tenants, represented by HRI and law firm Newman Ferrara, claim that they should have been paying stabilized rents based on regulated Rent Guidelines Board increases from 1991.
The lawsuit parallels HRI's previous claim against Kushner Cos. filed in July over the apartments at 89 Hicks St. A Kushner spokesman told TRD that the suits were without merit.
Kushner Cos. is also facing lawsuits in Maryland courts over tenant abuse, a mountain of unwieldy debt at 666 Fifth Ave., a federal investigation over its use of the EB-5 visa program and a loss of city and tenant interest for its Jersey City tower. There also are former CEO Jared Kushner's entanglements with the Trump campaign and presidential administration and their associated host of controversies and potential legal issues.
