A New Home in Clinton Hill (?!)
The drama surrounding the new apartment simply will not subside. Unfortunately, the latest chapter is much more sinister than my previous post about Brooklyn's opinionated but ultimately harmless architectural defenders.
We went to see the apartment again on Saturday, and as we were chatting with our broker, we learned that the owner has a wide-ranging set of investments from real estate to a nursing business that services elderly in their homes in the NY area. Coincidentally, we had found a set of articles about a man who shared the same name as the owner of our unit just a few days prior. They date back to fall of last year, when said individual was charged with Medicaid fraud by inflating the volume of services provided through a nursing service. The charges this man faces include various degrees of grand larceny, identity theft, money laundering, etc. Given how unique the owner's name is, and his ownership of a nursing business, we had no choice but to come to the conclusion that he was indeed the same man. More recent articles dating from last week indicate he has pleaded guilty to some of the charges and will go back to court later this summer, and could face up to 15 years in jail if convicted.
We asked our broker to follow up with the owner about these articles, and the owner told her that he was indeed the man referenced in them. However, he told her their content "wasn't true"--despite the AP reporting he pleaded guilty as recently as just a few days ago. Our broker also informed us that there is a risk if he is jailed or fined that the government could seize the property, at which point it is unclear whether we would be allowed to continue residing there and what would become of our lease agreement. (Does anyone know anyone who knows something about NY landlord-tenant laws and the likelihood of this actually happening?) At a higher level, there is the question of just how much sketchiness is tolerable in someone with which one has a purely financial/business relationship.
Another wrinkle to this whole issue is the role of the broker. Our broker works for one of the largest real estate firms in the area--Corcoran--and one has to wonder what sort of background checks they are running on people if an easy Google search yielded all of this information of which they were blithely unaware. The simple fact is they didn't do their homework. (Shout out to BSK for really making me realize this.) It will certainly be interesting to see how they handle the situation moving forward.
The flip side to all of this is that we really love the apartment and the neighborhood, and it is highly doubtful--though not completely unlikely--that we will find a comparable place, especially with the rental market heating up leading into June 1st. The thought of having to go back to the apartment search and start over from square one, I will admit, is an emotionally exhausting proposition. It makes me tired just to think about it. Juggling this while starting off in the new job is also not ideal, to say the very least.
Wish us luck.
We went to see the apartment again on Saturday, and as we were chatting with our broker, we learned that the owner has a wide-ranging set of investments from real estate to a nursing business that services elderly in their homes in the NY area. Coincidentally, we had found a set of articles about a man who shared the same name as the owner of our unit just a few days prior. They date back to fall of last year, when said individual was charged with Medicaid fraud by inflating the volume of services provided through a nursing service. The charges this man faces include various degrees of grand larceny, identity theft, money laundering, etc. Given how unique the owner's name is, and his ownership of a nursing business, we had no choice but to come to the conclusion that he was indeed the same man. More recent articles dating from last week indicate he has pleaded guilty to some of the charges and will go back to court later this summer, and could face up to 15 years in jail if convicted.
We asked our broker to follow up with the owner about these articles, and the owner told her that he was indeed the man referenced in them. However, he told her their content "wasn't true"--despite the AP reporting he pleaded guilty as recently as just a few days ago. Our broker also informed us that there is a risk if he is jailed or fined that the government could seize the property, at which point it is unclear whether we would be allowed to continue residing there and what would become of our lease agreement. (Does anyone know anyone who knows something about NY landlord-tenant laws and the likelihood of this actually happening?) At a higher level, there is the question of just how much sketchiness is tolerable in someone with which one has a purely financial/business relationship.
Another wrinkle to this whole issue is the role of the broker. Our broker works for one of the largest real estate firms in the area--Corcoran--and one has to wonder what sort of background checks they are running on people if an easy Google search yielded all of this information of which they were blithely unaware. The simple fact is they didn't do their homework. (Shout out to BSK for really making me realize this.) It will certainly be interesting to see how they handle the situation moving forward.
The flip side to all of this is that we really love the apartment and the neighborhood, and it is highly doubtful--though not completely unlikely--that we will find a comparable place, especially with the rental market heating up leading into June 1st. The thought of having to go back to the apartment search and start over from square one, I will admit, is an emotionally exhausting proposition. It makes me tired just to think about it. Juggling this while starting off in the new job is also not ideal, to say the very least.
Wish us luck.
posted by the Assistant at 12:06 PM
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