Tribeca Condo Buyer Sues Broker and Seller Over Virtual Doorman

Sometimes, the "doorman" is not actually a human being. And always, in the world of New York real estate, the buyer is advised to beware.

A luxury condo buyer is accusing a Corcoran broker and her client of lying about the existence of a doorman — and hiding a virtual version — in order to close a deal, Crain's reports. Kara Dille says she had agreed to buy a $19 million penthouse at 37 Warren St. in Tribeca with the belief that the building had a full-time flesh-and-blood doorman, according to a lawsuit filed in state Supreme Court in Manhattan.

But afterward Dille, a California accountant, discovered that the building has only a part-time doorman on weekdays and a virtual attendant on weekends — which the single mother of three children said makes her feel unsafe. The sellers’ marketing efforts were “intentionally false and descriptive,” the suit says, “and clearly intended to fraudulently induce plaintiff to enter into the contract to purchase.”

Dille, who broke her contract three weeks ago, is suing to recoup her $1.9 million deposit.

But an attorney for the seller says the language used to sell apartments in general is not always factual, even regarding room counts and square footage. Marketing jargon can be mere “real estate setups,” according to a filing from lawyer Howard Brickner, who also suggested that Dille should have done her own due diligence before buying. Translation: caveat emptor.

Initially, Dille learned of the penthouse from a Corcoran Group advertisement that lists “doorman” as an amenity at 37 Warren St., according to the suit, which includes a copy of the ad as evidence. (The same ad is still viewable online.) In running the ad, the suit claims, the brokerage was willfully misleading potential buyers.

“Corcoran is one of the … most celebrated real estate brokerage firms in the world,” the suit says “The public has come to rely on the representations of Corcoran and its agents.”

Dille toured the apartment on several occasions. But, her lawsuit claims, the broker handling the listing, Catherine Juracich of Corcoran, chose to show it at times when the part-time doorman was there to create a false impression.