New York City authorities are claiming a win in their push to enforce standards on landlords after Meyer Chetrit’s indictment on felony charges of tenant harassment.
The action is an escalation of city enforcement actions against landlords, who are largely subject to administrative penalties and rarely face criminal charges.
“For folks who are following the law, this evens the playing field,” said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. “Our hope is that the industry would be supportive of this kind of alleged conduct being rooted out.”
Chetrit has been charged with two counts of harassment of a rent-regulated tenant, a felony that carries a maximum sentence of four years in prison.
Chetrit, through defense attorney Jeffrey Chartier, denied the allegations.
Bragg cited Chetrit’s track record of poor conditions at his properties that persist after penalties and inquiries from the Department of Buildings and Loft Board. That gives the case evidence, but it also means that criminal sanctions are the appropriate next step, he said.
Bringing a criminal case to trial can be a deterrent to the cost-benefit analyses landlords make about administrative penalties, according to Jocelyn Strauber, Department of Investigations commissioner.
“We suspect there’s more conduct like this out there, which we will be looking for,” Strauber said.
Making the case
Ashley Viruet, deputy director at Legal Services of New York City, said tenant harassment is still quite common in New York, and something tenants’ attorneys see often. A one-off prosecution, she said, may not be enough to curb bad behavior.
“I appreciate that they’re trying to put landlords on notice,” she said. “But I’m not entirely sure that it’s going to change behaviors.”
Although Chetrit is facing potential prison time, that result would be something of a first for New York. There has not been a high-profile case where a landlord has served in prison specifically for tenant harassment.
Other landlords who have tangled with law enforcement have either avoided time in state prison so far or have been sent there for other crimes.
Daniel Ohebshalom was jailed at Rikers Island last year for his refusal to fix deteriorating conditions at two Washington Heights buildings even after court orders. Last May, Ohebshalom was indicted on charges of tenant harassment and accused of filing false documents with the city.
In 2022, landlord Raphael Toledano was banned from real estate activity in New York for five years after he violated an agreement with the state to stop harassing tenants.
Steve Croman, once named among the worst landlords in the city, faced a civil suit from the state for tenant harassment, which he settled for $8 million in restitution in 2017. (He was sentenced to state prison in 2017, but for mortgage and tax fraud.)
“Historically, the D.A.’s office has wanted some kind of financial crime as kind of the linchpin to hold it all together,” said Viruet, who is part of the team representing tenants of Ohebshalom in housing court.
There are other divisions in New York that come after landlords for tenant harassment, said Sherwin Belkin, a landlord-side real estate attorney and founding partner at Belkin Burden Goldman. But rarely do accusations to rise to the criminal level.
“Prosecution for criminal harassment is a serious matter,” Belkin said. “I assume it’s being taken very seriously by Mr. Chetrit and his attorneys.”
The district attorney alleged Chetrit allowed conditions in 111-117 West 26th Street to deteriorate, leaving the two senior citizens without heat or, in some cases, an elevator.
The tenants have special protection because they are in rent-stabilized apartments overseen by the city’s loft board.
Chartier, Chetrit’s defense attorney, cast doubt on the facts of the case, alleging that one of the two senior citizens is not a true resident of the building.
“Rather than prosecute violent criminals that are plaguing the city, Bragg has again chosen to misapply the law in pursuit of a progressive political agenda,” he said.
It’s not the first time tenants have raised concerns about conditions in buildings associated with Chetrit.
Elected officials on the Upper West Side have raised alarms about Chetrit’s management of the Park West Village on Columbus Avenue between West 97th and 100th streets. Tenants there have accused Chetrit of pocketing city rent subsidies without crediting them to renters’ accounts, and then pursuing eviction.
State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal launched a confidential survey to determine the scope of the problem.
“Meyer Chetrit’s indictment echoes the pattern of harassment and mismanagement that tenants in my district have reported for years under his management,” Hoylman-Sigal said in a statement to The Real Deal. “No landlord should take taxpayer funds, bill tenants twice, and leave people in unsafe homes.”
Rent-stabilized tenants at 496 Metropolitan Avenue in Brooklyn accused an entity associated with Chetrit of abandoning the building. About one-third of the tenants filed a petition against the building owner in March, alleging dangerous conditions, harassment and retaliatory eviction. The building’s lender has also brought a commercial foreclosure case on the building.
The city of Cleveland sued the Chetrits’ family firm in 2023 over conditions at three buildings in the city after tenants complained of broken elevators, malfunctioning heat, and negligent security. The city was seeking a receiver for the properties, but the parties have since proposed a buyer for the buildings, which would end the case.
Chetrit and associated parties are facing multiple civil suits from lenders, including several foreclosure actions. Maverick Real Estate Partners has accused Chetrit of fraudulently transferring money to shield assets from a $132 million judgment. His lawyers have denied the allegations.
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