Bushwick Developers To Pay $132K In Illegal Buyout Settlement: AG

BUSHWICK, BROOKLYN — The owners of three Bushwick apartment complexes will pay $132,000 in a settlement over illegal buyouts, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced Friday.

Brothers Graham and Greg Jones — the owners of 920 Bushwick Ave., 946 Bushwick Ave., and 1075 Greene Ave. — agreed to pay the large fee after the attorney general charged them with illegally pressuring tenants of rent-controlled apartments to accept buyouts.

The Jones brothers began offering tenants money to leave their homes soon after they purchased the 105 units in Bushwick in 2016, according to the Attorney General,

The brothers broke the law when they failed to provide written statements that clarify tenants' right to consult a lawyer, refuse a buyout and remain in their apartments, the prosecutor said.

The Jones brothers successfully convinced 33 tenants to accept illegal buyout deals Between June 2016 and July 2017, in hopes of vacating and renovating the apartments, then hiking up the rents, the prosecutor said.

The brothers will pay $132,000 in restitution to the city’s Department of Finance, which will use the money to fund low-income housing projects, said the attorney general.

“Tenants should never feel harassed into vacating their homes,” said Schneiderman. “This settlement makes clear that we will aggressively enforce the law to protect tenants from those who seek to put profit before New Yorkers’ rights.”

Photo courtesy of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman