Kushner Cos. accused of tenant harassment
NEW YORK — Kushner Cos. is being investigated in New York over allegations that the real-estate company used disruptive construction projects to harass rent-regulated tenants so they’d move out of their apartments, freeing up apartments to be sold as high-priced luxury condos.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Tenant Protection Unit opened the probe after residents of Austin Nichols House in Brooklyn accused Kushner Cos. in a lawsuit of doing work “that released dangerous toxins into the air and created unlivable conditions for tenants, including vermin and excessive construction noise,” the state said Monday in a statement.
Those who lived there cite all-day hammering and drilling and other problems they say were aimed at getting them to leave. They also complain of high increases in rent, dust from construction, rats crawling through holes, and workers with passkeys barging in unannounced.
Kushner Cos. is owned by family members of Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law.
“No one is above the law, and we will thoroughly investigate the appalling allegations of harassment at this or any related property and hold anyone found guilty of such abuse responsible to the fullest extent of the law,” RuthAnne Visnauskas, the New York State Homes and Community Renewal Commissioner, said in the statement.
Kushner Cos. said the lawsuit is without merit and residents of Austin Nichols House were “fully informed” about planned renovations completed under full city supervision.
“Tenants were never pressured to leave their apartments and the market-rate rent stabilization was — and continues to be — complied with under applicable rent guidelines,” the company said in a statement. “Any complaints during construction (which was completed in 2017) were evaluated and addressed promptly by the property management team.”
The Tenant Protection Unit has previously referred several landlords for criminal prosecution, according to the statement. The agency said its has identified thousands of improperly deregulated apartments and recovered more than $4.5 million in overcharged rent.