Is the Trump Name Behind the Blizzard of Lawsuits in Brooklyn?

The Department of Justice announced on Dec. 23 that it has filed a lawsuit against Trump Village Section 4 co-op in Brooklyn, as well as its embattled former board president Igor Oberman, for violating the Fair Housing Act. The co-op, according to the suit, failed to accommodate four residents who require emotional support animals.

The government contends that harassment of the animal owners has continued despite a legal agreement reached in January, as reported by the Bklyner website. That case accused the co-op of trying to evict an Afghanistan veteran who, suffering from PTSD, filed a fair-housing complaint in order to keep his emotional support animal.

The 1,144-unit in Coney Island has seen a blizzard of lawsuits over the years. When shareholders launched a website to air grievances about Oberman’s “KGB tactics,” Oberman sued for defamation of character. Oberman was fined $7,500 for conflicts of interest when he ran unsuccessfully for City Council last year.

Oberman has a theory that the latest lawsuit is linked to the current presidential campaign. “The only reason why the federal government is wasting taxpayer dollars is to get headlines due to Donald Trump running for federal office,” Oberman said in an emailed statement. “I feel due to the Trump name, we are being persecuted.”