This kind of enforcement is an important aspect of our states larger efforts to ensure that all New Yorkers have access to high-quality, safe, and affordable housing, said State Senator Brian Kavanagh. The Office of Attorney General's website is provided in English. This matter was supervised by Environmental Protection Bureau Chief Lemuel M. Srolovic. This is the second time the property management company is being sued for housing discrimination. Vivian Tejada is a freelance real estate writer from Providence, RI. The lawsuit filed in New York Supreme Civil Court accuses Chestnut Holdings of violating city and state Human Rights laws that make it illegal to refuse Chestnut Holdings Chestnut Holdings The following day, a tester from the NYC Human Rights Commission inquired about the same apartment that the plaintiff has. Attorney General James thanks Erie County and the city of Buffalo for their partnership and for providing critical information for this complaint. The New York Public Library also joined to encourage attendees to sign up and visit their local branches. Anyone relying on information obtained from Google Translate does so at his or her own risk. Back in 2018, a woman sued Chestnut Holdings for failing to accept her Section 8 housing voucher. We never thought we would be in that position, but a lot of people are. WebPhone: (718) 543-8200. '' In 2020, an investigation by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) found that over a period of more than six years, at least 18 children were poisoned by lead paint while residing in 17 of Endzones estimated 89 properties. Harvey Lindo, 68, is another plaintiff in the case against Chestnut. Chestnut fully complies with all lead laws and addresses any lead issues immediately. I want to thank Attorney General Letitia James and her staff for taking swift action to hold our landlords accountable, and for ensuring they are in compliance with the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Act. Her commitment to investigating and identifying these individuals demonstrates her dedication and commitment to defending the most vulnerable members of our society., The fact that the city of Buffalo will be joining in this lawsuit as a co-plaintiff in this case is major, said Buffalo Councilmember Mitch Nowakowski. Brian Zak/NY Post A group Additionally, Chestnut Holdings repeatedly certified, in new leases, that it had complied with the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Acts turnover requirements, even though it had not done so. The landlords frequently allowed paint on their properties to deteriorate to the point of being a lead hazard instead of preventing deterioration of paint, as required by local and state building codes, and only addressed the lead hazard after a lead-poisoned child was discovered. This matter is being handled by Attorney General James Environmental Protection Bureau by Assistant Attorney General Abigail Katowitz, Special Counsel of the Health Care Bureau Sara Haviva Mark, and Chief Scientist Jodi Feld, under the supervision of Deputy Bureau Chief Monica Wagner. Attorney General James thanks the City of New York and the New York State Homes and Community Renewal for their assistance with data collection during the investigation. agreement resolving her lawsuit against landlord John Kiggins and his company, Endzone Properties, Inc., for failing to protect children from lead paint hazards in Syracuse. The agreement was jointly filed by Attorney General James and the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) in the Supreme Court of New York, Bronx County for final approval. Data analysis was handled by Senior Data Analyst Akram Hasanov, under the supervision of Research and Analytics Department Directior Jonathan Werberg and Deputy Director Megan Thorsfeldt. The OAG has been active in holding landlords and property managers accountable for violating childhood lead poisoning prevention laws in New York. A group of eight New Yorkers is suing a Bronx real estate company for allegedly refusing to accept housing vouchers as rent payment. I commend Attorney General Letitia James for filing suit against landlords who have so flagrantly ignored the laws we have put in place to protect our children. We must build on the attorney generals work to make sure everyone is safe from this avoidable neurotoxin., It is great justice that Chestnut Holdings is being held accountable for their actions, that primarily affected families in the Bronx, said New York CityCouncil Member Eric Dinowitz. Se habla espaol Select a Language Below/Seleccione el Idioma Abajo. Tens of thousands of rental properties in Buffalo that were constructed before 1978 contain lead paint which, if not properly maintained and managed, can cause lead poisoning. and one of the advocates who helped write the current New York City lead law. Every family deserves to live in a home free of lead hazards, and I will work to ensure that happens.. 8 New Yorkers Sue Chestnut Holdings for Housing Discrimination He eventually received help from Breaking Ground, a permanent supportive housing provider. I applaud Attorney General James ongoing efforts to enforce the citys lead law and hold landlords that violate this law accountable.. Select a Language Below/Seleccione el Idioma Abajo. Attorney General James thanks Onondaga County and the City of Syracuse for their partnership in this matter. Throughout Plaintiffs employment, Defendants willfully failed to pay Plaintiff the overtime wages lawfully due to him under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the New York Labor Law (NYLL). Chestnut A separate federal investigation of lead levels in private apartments that receive Section 8 benefits is ongoing. The New York City Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Act requires owners of apartments and houses built before 1960 to take critical safety measures such as identifying apartments where children under six live, conducting annual investigations of those apartments for hazards that are conducive to lead poisoning, and remediating those conditions where they occur. Attorney General James is pursuing legal actions across New York to end the scourge of childhood lead poisoning by holding accountable landlords that allow lead paint-related hazards to proliferate in low-income rental properties. NYC Realty Company Discriminates Against Moms With Vouchers: Our Church has had a great relationship with our landlord, Chestnut Holdings, for over fifteen years. Morrison said she was devastated and humiliated by the experience. Lead poisoning persists as one of themost prevalent and preventable environmental diseases in New York, with thousands of children having blood leadlevels above the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions reference value. This is incredibly pervasive in New York City. 216(b). Hopefully, legal actions like this one will send a message to others who might choose to ignore lead poisoning prevention laws that such behavior will not be tolerated. The Bronx real estate company is allegedly refusing to consider tenants with housing vouchers. Anyone relying on information obtained from Google Translate does so at his or her own risk. Citing Exposure of Children to Lead Poisoning, Attorney More than 90 percent of Syracuses housing stock was constructed prior to 1978. It produced thousands of pages of documents and information, and continued to offer more evidence of compliance. New York has some of the strongest lead poisoning prevention measures in the country, but without enforcement, families will continue to suffer. I'd like to thank Attorney General Letitia James for her commitment to the health and safety of families across our state, and for ensuring that all landlords provide safe, healthy, lead-free housing that is in full compliance with our laws. These include annual inspections and ensuring that an apartment is code compliant when a tenant moves into their new home. Lead poisoning is a serious and immediate problem, particularly in New York. BUFFALO New York Attorney General Letitia James, joined by Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, today announced a lawsuit against a group of individuals and companies in the Buffalo region for repeatedly and persistently violating county, city, state, and federal laws by illegally allowing lead paint-related hazards to proliferate in their rental properties. This matter is being handled by the Environmental Protection Bureau of the New York Attorney Generals Office and is led by Assistant Attorneys General Matthew Eisenson and Patrick Omilian, Special Assistant Attorney General Marissa Lieberman-Klein, Environmental Scientist Jennifer Nalbone, Science Interns Meredith Seibold and Serena Labrecque, and GIS Intern Gregory Welter. We must prevent exposure to lead by taking bold and consistent steps to protect families., We thank New York Attorney General Letitia James for bringing this significant lawsuit," said Sonal Jessel, policy and advocacy coordinator, WE ACT for Environmental Justice. There is no excuse for landlords failing to abide by the law and protect the health of their tenants.. Attorney general sues Chestnut Holdings for lead paint 1037 (PAC). Having lead paint in an apartment is not necessarily illegal if there is no risk of exposure, but when building owners paint over it rather than remove it which is expensive it can eventually resurface. CHESTNUT HOLDINGS What we do have is the fact that the landlord, unfortunately, has not complied with the law and as a result of that, he again, it poses a threat to all of the children who are currently residents in this building, she says.
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