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NYC sues Brooklyn landlords over attempt to evict tenants amid pandemic
nypost.com ^ | November 17, 2020 | Priscilla DeGregory, Nolan Hicks and Tamar Lapin

Posted on 11/18/2020 8:32:12 AM PST by lowbridge

A prominent Brooklyn couple was sued by the city on Tuesday for allegedly trying to kick tenants out of their building in spite of a pause on evictions during the pandemic.

The landlords, so-called “eco-builder” Gennaro Brooks-Church and his ex-wife Loretta Gendville, the former owner of a hipster kids’ boutique empire, are accused of harassing the inhabitants of their Crown Heights home in July to get them to move out.

The incident made headlines over the summer when a group of protesters managed to stop what officials had blasted as a heartless and illegal eviction of tenants from the three-story LGBTQ-friendly brownstone.

The lawsuit states that on July 6, the privileged pair allegedly came to the home with their three kids and two maintenance workers and threatened to call the cops if the tenants didn’t get out.

Gendville, 46, even stormed into a bedroom where one tenant was changing her clothing, pulled her out into the hallway by the wrist and accused of her being a squatter, the court documents allege.

The landlords changed the locks and threw out the possessions — including furniture — of at least one tenant. They then began moving mattresses out of individual rooms and placing them in a van, the court docs allege.

Unsure of what to do, the inhabitants reached out to a local community organization that organized a demonstration.

Protesters were able to stop the ouster of the remaining tenants, and the city sent Brooks-Church and Gendville a cease-and-desist letter on July 10.

Days earlier, on July 2, Brooks-Church, 49, had aggressively barged into the home that he and his ex had allegedly illegally converted into a multi-family rental property and “yelled at the tenants that they needed to pay their rent,” the lawsuit states.

(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: covid; newyorkcity; nyc; pandemic

1 posted on 11/18/2020 8:32:12 AM PST by lowbridge
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To: lowbridge

>>the home that he and his ex had allegedly illegally converted into a multi-family rental property

So they openly violated the terms of the contract (in addition to the government takings regarding rent) and then whine when there are repercussions. Typical socialists.


2 posted on 11/18/2020 8:41:22 AM PST by vikingd00d (chown -R us ~you/base)
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To: lowbridge

Seems like a smart time for a countersuit demanding the value of the property if NYC wants to decide that people can use it for free.


3 posted on 11/18/2020 8:43:24 AM PST by kingu (Everything starts with slashing the size and scope of the federal government.)
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To: lowbridge

NYC sues Brooklyn landlords over attempt to evict tenants amid pandemic


Just consider the evictions abortions. Really, a lot of the same principles apply - it’s just that these folks aren’t going to die.


4 posted on 11/18/2020 8:47:01 AM PST by lepton ("It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into"--Jonathan Swift)
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To: lowbridge

“from the three-story LGBTQ-friendly brownstone”

Hope these liberal hipster landlords lose their wealth. They voted in this crap.


5 posted on 11/18/2020 8:47:23 AM PST by setter
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To: lowbridge

Lawfare against landlords. This should be a violation of landlords right to contract with tenant.
City and state are using this to become the new landlords. This is one way we will get communism with the state owning everything.


6 posted on 11/18/2020 8:52:54 AM PST by grumpygresh (Civil disobedience by jury nullification. )
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To: lowbridge

three-story LGBTQ-friendly brownstone.

Yeah, I won’t be dancing with Mr. Brownstone. Not that I wanted to anyway.


7 posted on 11/18/2020 8:57:34 AM PST by Larry Lucido
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To: lowbridge

Can’t wait to see property taxes and business income taxes will look like next year.


8 posted on 11/18/2020 9:05:53 AM PST by Extremely Extreme Extremist (Trust the plan of the 17th letter of the English alphabet!)
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To: grumpygresh

“Lawfare against landlords.”

I went to their FB page and their apartments for rent. They are ultra liberal.

At the bottom of each ad it says they “are vegan, LGBTQIA friendly and so must you”

I guess conservatives are not allowed.


9 posted on 11/18/2020 9:13:28 AM PST by setter
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To: setter

Kind of funny in the end.

The two nuts are trying to evict non paying squatters, in clear violation of their stated beliefs.

Everyone is a bleeding heart, till it hits them.


10 posted on 11/18/2020 9:41:03 AM PST by redgolum (If this culture today is civilization, I will be the barbarian )
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To: kingu

Azzhole landlords are made, not born.


11 posted on 11/18/2020 9:48:02 AM PST by pingman ("I ain't in no ways tarred.." of WINNING!)
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To: vikingd00d

“So they openly violated the terms of the contract”

May not have been a contract. Since the building was illegally converted, chances are the tenants knew this was the situation and agreed to live there under less than formal arrangements and lower than usual rent. That may have been why the woman was accused of being a squatter. These landlords may have thought they could get away with this if there was no written contracts involved.


12 posted on 11/18/2020 9:54:17 AM PST by caseinpoint (Don't get thickly involved in thin things.)
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To: lowbridge
That's it! LGBTQ people have a right to free housing, paid for by the people who own the property. Did you really think the concept of "private property" would last this long?
13 posted on 11/18/2020 10:35:08 AM PST by I want the USA back (Social media are the propaganda arm of the Democratic Party. Wholly owned subsidiaries. )
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To: lowbridge

There are some things that the landlord can do. Like stop paying the utilities and let the building get shut off from heat, electric, water, etc. - Unless it’s metered individually, which is more common in newer buildings.

Or, just burn the danged place to the ground and abandon NYC.


14 posted on 11/18/2020 10:39:51 AM PST by meyer (WWG1WGA, MAGA! Derps vs. Patriots, choose your side.)
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To: pingman

For them to be an azzhole landlord, wouldn’t someone have to be paying rent? Not paying? Just a property owner dealing with forced acceptance of squatting.


15 posted on 11/18/2020 11:44:44 AM PST by kingu (Everything starts with slashing the size and scope of the federal government.)
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To: kingu

I was a landlord for 30 years, and the experience turned me into an azzhole when needed.


16 posted on 11/18/2020 4:43:07 PM PST by pingman ("I ain't in no ways tarred.." of WINNING!)
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To: pingman

Ahh, misunderstood. Yeah, can’t let anything slip by or else you’re dealing with some REALLY expensive problems. I know people who’d rent out $500k worth of property without a blink but wouldn’t imagine handing someone the keys to their $30k truck.


17 posted on 11/18/2020 4:47:11 PM PST by kingu (Everything starts with slashing the size and scope of the federal government.)
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To: kingu

You try not to make that mistake more than once, but the eeevil landlords are often expected to take the hit. After all, they’re “rich”. Funny how taxes and expenses never take holidays.


18 posted on 11/18/2020 6:34:57 PM PST by pingman ("I ain't in no ways tarred.." of WINNING!)
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To: pingman

Oh yes, gotta keep giving your rent to the government, they’re not suspending those collections in the slightest. Tax man wants his due.


19 posted on 11/18/2020 6:46:04 PM PST by kingu (Everything starts with slashing the size and scope of the federal government.)
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