RE Greed Reaches New Level in Cobble Hill
Most New Yorkers are pretty used to tales of landlords evicting tenants in the pursuit of profit maximization. But even the most hardened free-marketeer must have raised his eyebrows at yesterday’s report of two elederly sisters being kicked out of the Cobble Hill townhouse where they grew up by their nephew, Joseph DeLeonibus. Adding another…
Most New Yorkers are pretty used to tales of landlords evicting tenants in the pursuit of profit maximization. But even the most hardened free-marketeer must have raised his eyebrows at yesterday’s report of two elederly sisters being kicked out of the Cobble Hill townhouse where they grew up by their nephew, Joseph DeLeonibus. Adding another layer of intrigue was the listing for the Cheever Place property on Corcoran: “House is being offered for $999,999, without seeing it, without inspecting it, must close in 30 days, must be all cash and must take tenants in place.” Sounds a little desperate to us. There must be more to the story.
Hit the Bricks, Granny! [NY Daily News]
i too agree that “money is fungible”
What’s with the son of one of the old ladies living in the attic?
Not to side with the LL — but if it was me, personally, I cannot afford to pay the utilities, taxes, upkeep, etc. on my house and my great-aunt’s house. I’d sell too (but find an apartment for her.) Granted, eviction is drastic, but it really sounds like the article is slanted and this family is WHACKO.
Interesting how the aunties/grannies went to the press for some sympathy. Makes you wonder what the family is like — sounds like no one is truly innocent here.
I think there’s a lot more going on than the old ladies. Snidley Whiplash’s cousin and his wife also live in the house, according to the article. It also looks like Snidely’s the sole owner, by inheritance.
I’m not debating that this guy is scummy — but where is the rest of the family that also should be offering to help?
And how the hell did this family get to this financially desperate situation in the first place?
If I had the money, I’d buy it myself and give the women right of tenancy. Then when the day comes that they go on to their rewards, I’d fix up the house, live in it, or rent it out. A good deed done.
This was for sale for some time and had openhouses. Then I saw this on Curbed.com (Nov3)with the weird $999k price and stipulations. By that same afternoon it was off the Corcoran website. Must have beeen looking like some very bad PR for Corcoran so quickly zapped it.
Come on, Josh, don’t be coy. Explain to all the good readers of brownstoner.com how you campaigned for city council on a platform of abolishing rent control and rent stabilization because you advocate “fair housing for all — not affordable housing for a lucky few.” So who’s lucky in this scenario? The guy who inherits his mother’s house or his elderly aunties who end up homeless?
Without any discussion of the rights or wrongs of the case, it’s my understanding that it’s basically impossible to evict elderly tenants if they’re paying their rent, lease or no lease. Basically, if you go to housing court, you’ve got essentially no chance of getting an eviction order in this kind of case. Of course, I am not a lawyer, and it’s horrible that it would come to this, but that’s my understanding.
I’m confused…did he buy the place or inherit it? Not to say that if he did buy it himself that justifies this behavior, but if in fact he INHERITED this building, that is truly, truly sick.