Landlord faces misdemeanor charges for alleged illegal evictions
A New York City landlord who operates transitional homes was charged last week with two misdemeanors for unlawful eviction of tenants.
The landlord, Yury Baumblit, operates “three-quarter” homes, which charge poor and disabled residents the cost of their housing allowance checks, the New York Times reports. The amount is $215 a month for people on public assistance and about $300 a month for those on disability.
In exchange, a tenant gets a bed in a shared bedroom that could hold as many as eight beds. According to the Times, such homes “are often infested with bedbugs and rodents. Bunk beds block exits. Because they are not regulated, they are often centers of the very kind of drug activity they purport to avoid.”
In one case, police say, Anthony Ross was being treated for crack addiction while living at one of Baumblit’s homes. Baumblit tried to evict Ross, but after he lost the case, he allegedly forced Ross to sleep on the floor.
In the second case, Baumblit is accused of evicting a tenant from his top bunk bed.
Baumblit told the Times investigators never spoke to witnesses on his side of the cases. He said he planned to close his three-quarter homes. “Too much headache, not enough money,” he said.
