City Council and Attorney General Probe Kushner’s DOB Filings

The New York City Council has launched an investigation into false tenant documents reportedly filed by the Kushner family real estate company that dodged rent laws, forced tenants out of rent-regulated apartments, and boosted Kushner Cos. profits, the Huffington Post reports. 

Meanwhile, state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is also meeting with tenants of Kushner properties. “We are very concerned about the allegations raised in the report and will be meeting with tenant representatives in the coming days,” Amy Spitalnick, a spokeswoman for the AG said in a statement, as reported by Bloomberg. 

Hundreds of rent-regulated tenants in buildings owned by Kushner Cos. were protected by city law from being hit with major rent hikes or forced out by a new owner. However, the company “routinely” filed false paperwork with the Department of Buildings, stating that the buildings had no rent-regulated tenants from 2013 to 2016, The Associated Press reported. In fact, there were more than 300 rent-regulated tenants in Kushner properties. White House adviser Jared Kushner, the husband of first daughter Ivanka Trump, was CEO of the operation during that time. 

According to documents obtained by the tenant watchdog group Housing Rights Initiative, at least 80 false applications were filed for construction permits in 34 buildings during that time. That left tenants vulnerable to being harassed to get out or left to endure the constant disruption of construction as the Kushners sought to hike rents or sell buildings. 

City Council member Ritchie Torres announced an investigation into the practice by the Kushner business and other landlords on Monday. He called the Kushner strategy a “weaponization of construction” to force tenants out for higher-paying residents and “deregulate affordable housing units out of existence.” Torres added, “The scandal is not only the deception of Kushner Cos., the scandal is the dysfunction of the city bureaucracy.”