Esplanade Owners Said No Elderly Residents 'Forced Out' of Homes: UPDATE

UPDATE—Wednesday, July 27, 2016, 3:30 p.m.: A spokesman for the Esplanade said Wednesday that no resident was forced out of their home and no one was asked to leave.

Spokesman Geoff Thompson said the company voluntarily agreed to make payments to the seniors and no fine or penalty was ever assessed.

The complete statement is as follows:

ESPLANADE STATEMENT REGARDING SETTLEMENT WITH ATTORNEY GENERAL’S OFFICE:

“The AG contacted us to discuss the closure. We cooperated fully. No investigation was commenced, and there is no allegation that we acted in any way in contradiction to law or violated any right of any senior. No resident was ‘forced out.’ In fact, we have never even asked a senior to leave, and we have never given a formal notice to terminate any senior's tenancy.

“As a result of discussions with the AG, we voluntarily agreed to make payments to the seniors to assist them in their relocation. No fine or penalty is being assessed nor was one ever demanded by the AG.

“We are comfortable with this result.”

Original article, Wednesday, July 27, 2016, 11:24 a.m.

WHITE PLAINS, NY — The owners of an apartment building who rented to seniors and then made them move out of their homes has come to an agreement with the state of New York.

Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced Wednesday that Esplanade of White Plains Venture Partnership LP and White Plains Hotel LP will make payments of more than $528,000 to 139 elderly residents forced from their apartments at 95 South Broadway and 10 Lyon Place in White Plains when the companies wanted to completely renovate the facilities.

“By failing to inform potential residents of their plan to vacate and repurpose the building, the Esplanade owners caused many seniors to suffer undue and unnecessary stress, hardship and expense,” said Schneiderman.

“This agreement will help the residents cover some of the expenses they incurred in having to make an unanticipated move from a facility where they expected to live out their remaining years. My office is committed to protecting our most vulnerable citizens, and to holding landlords accountable for their actions,” he said.

The Esplanade owners sent a letter to all residents in November 2015 that a “multi-year complete overhaul” of the facility was being planned and that the “enormous level of construction will make it necessary to vacate the building.”

The owners had a plan to convert the building from a senior residence to luxury rental apartments not restricted to seniors.

Even though the plan to vacate and renovate the building had been in the works since 2014, the Esplanade owners continued to rent apartments to senior citizens, without informing them of their intentions.

In fact, Schneiderman said, some of the residents moved in just weeks before the November 2015 letter was sent.

After receiving complaints from Esplanade residents, the attorney general started an inquiry.

Some of the residents had chosen the Esplanade because they could be close to their children and believed they would never have to move again.

In addition to agreeing to make payments to residents who moved in during 2014 and 2015, the Esplanade owners agreed to make smaller payments to residents who moved in earlier.

All 139 residents as of November 2015 will receive some payment.

Per the agreement, the Esplanade owners will pay $6,500 to each of the 60 residents who moved into the facility during 2014 and 2015; $3,250 to each of the 27 residents who moved in during 2013 and $1,250 to each of the 52 residents who moved in prior to 2013.

Payments will be made within 30 days, Schneiderman said.

Before the agreement could be executed, the owners had made payments totaling $14,382.50 to certain residents as reimbursement or partial reimbursement for moving expenses.

Those payments will be deducted from the amount those residents will receive pursuant to the agreement.

The total amount the owners will pay the residents is $528,367.50.

State Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins said she was appreciative of the attorney general’s efforts to help the senior citizens.

“I will continue to fight for the legislation I introduced this year,” she said, “which will prevent those who market and create senior communities from pulling the rug out from under these residents without cause and appropriate notice.”

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