Tenants Sue Kushner Companies Claiming Rent Rule Violations<br />A group of New York City tenants has sued the Kushner Companies, the family real estate firm of Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law<br />and White House adviser, accusing the company of systematically violating the state’s rent regulations.<br />The nonprofit group that researched the building, Housing Rights Initiative, said it had found similar irregularities in more than 50 other Kushner Companies apartment buildings across New York City<br />and is studying potential future litigation related to those properties.<br />Under New York State law, any building of six apartments or more built before 1974, or new buildings<br />that have received certain types of property tax breaks, must charge rents that conform with the state’s rent stabilization laws.<br />The lawsuit, filed in the New York State Supreme Court in Brooklyn on Tuesday, was on behalf of nine tenants, but it concludes<br />that more than 100 former and current tenants could have similar claims.<br />The building is in the heart of Brooklyn Heights, a short walk from the historic Brooklyn Bridge<br />and several amenities along the water, including basketball courts, roller-skating rinks, jogging and biking paths, and sweeping views of Lower Manhattan.<br />The complaint stems from the Kushner Companies’ 2014 purchase of a 48-unit apartment building<br />at 89 Hicks Street in Brooklyn Heights, one of the city’s most affluent neighborhoods.
