Mohd R. Amin, a Bangladeshi immigrant, is suing a local company he claims has stolen his East New York property using fake deeds while he was out of the country, reports Commercial Observer. Amin originally purchased 551 Liberty Avenue in 2007 and shortly after fell behind on his mortgage payments after the tenants stopped paying […]
Search results
Posted inIn Other Brooklyn News, In Other Brooklyn News Featured
Gloria’s In Crown Heights Abruptly Closes Amid Wild Claims Of Fraud, Deed Theft, And “Cruelty”
For legions of hungry New Yorkers, the name Gloria conjures images of steaming goat curry, jerk chicken, and fried chickpeas dribbling out of craggy flatbread. Located on Nostrand Avenue and Sterling Place in Crown Heights, Glorias Caribbean Cuisine has served up authentic Trinidadian dishes from a colorful corner shop for nearly two decades. The family-run […]
Posted inFeatured News
Personal Belongings of Bed-Stuy Family Thrown Onto Street Without Warning in Alleged Deed Theft Case
Without warning or a court order, on Monday, Nov. 7, workers changed the locks and started throwing out the belongings of a Bed-Stuy family’s brownstone, located at 470 Willoughby Ave., according to the property’s owner, Moses Foster. Foster said he called the police five times, and no one showed up. On Thursday, nearly 20 concerned […]
Posted inFeatured News
Flatbush, Bed-Stuy Residents Targeted in Major Alleged Deed Theft Scheme: Report
A New York real estate developer accused of stealing dozens of homes around the city allegedly swindled at least eight of them from Brooklyn homeowners in neighborhoods like Flatbush and Bed-Stuy, the New York Times reports, and was able to continue the alleged fraud even while being prosecuted for it. Over more than a decade, […]
Posted inCrime
Brooklyn Man Accused of Trying to Steal Landlord’s Flatlands Home With Fake Deed: DA
A Flatlands man has been indicted and charged with grand larceny and burglary for allegedly filing a fake deed to transfer ownership of his landlord’s $759,000 rental property into a trust in his name, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said Tuesday. James Effiwatt, 64, allegedly filed a fake deed to a three-story house at 36 Hubbard […]
Posted inHousing
A BK Grandfather Subjected to Deed Theft Can Keep His Home
Dairus Griffiths had been in his Halsey St home for almost three decades, raising his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren there while working as a plumber. But in 2014, Griffiths, a Jamaican immigrant, was struggling to keep up with mortgage payments with his pension. He resisted offers to sell, the Daily News wrote in 2019, but […]
Posted inHousing
$800K Grant Aims to Prevent Deed Theft, Scams in Brooklyn and Other Vulnerable Areas
The Attorney General’s Office is giving $800,000 to a program that helps Brooklyn homeowners stay in their neighborhoods, amid the rising pressure of gentrification and property scams. New York Attorney General Letitia Jamesannounced Friday her office would be giving the anti-displacement grant to a program aimed at protecting homeowners at risk of financial distress, foreclosure, […]
Posted inFeatured News Archive
AG James, Electeds and Volunteers Kick off Bklyn Door-Knocking Campaign Around Deed Theft
In the last five years alone, New York City has received more than 3,000 resident complaints of deed theft, with 45 percent of those complaints coming from Brooklyn and almost all of them concentrated in communities of color, according to New York State Attorney General Letitia James. On Saturday, James launched the Protect Our Homes […]
Posted inPolicy & Government
Cuomo Signs Deed Theft Bill, Residents Doubt Its Enough
In part one of our series on deed theft, we outlined the differences between Third Party Transfer and deed fraud. In this second part, we are looking at new legislation, the “Deed Theft Bill,” which Governor Andrew M. Cuomo signed into law last Monday. Growing instances of deed fraud targeting the elderly, financially distraught and […]
Posted inFeatured News Archive, Fort Greene / Clinton Hill, Policy & Government
NY Senate Passes Law to Provide Greater Protections for Victims of Deed Theft
Brooklyn State Senator Velmanette Montgomery’s “Deed Theft Bill, a new law aimed to provide greater protections for homeowners whose properties are either in default or foreclosure, passed on Wednesday the New York State Senate and now awaits Governor Andrew Cuomos signature. Montgomerys bill expands upon the 2006 Home Equity Theft Act, a law that provides […]
Posted inBedford Stuyvesant, Business & Innovation, Featured News Archive, Popular
Attempted Deed Theft Foiled When Crooks Unknowingly Target Property of Notable Bed-Stuy Realtor
Crooks chose the wrong victims when they attempted to swindle co-owners Gloria Sandiford and Richard Flateau out of the deed for their property, located at 1424 Fulton Street in Bed-Stuy last Friday, November 11. Luckily, Flateau, owner of Flateau Realty Corp, and Sandiford, president of the Bedford Stuyvesant Real Estate Board, were well versed on the […]
Posted inHousing
Attention Brooklyn Homeowners: There’s New Help Available If You’re Struggling
Homeowners hurting from the pandemic in Central Brooklyn will now be able to get more free one-on-one housing help, financial assistance and legal services thanks to an expanding initiative launched this weekend. On Saturday, volunteers starting in Restoration Plaza fanned out and hit the streets, bodegas and businesses of Bed-Stuy to get the word out […]
Posted inLocal Voices
Straight Out of COVID: How Brooklyn Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses Pivoted During a Global Pandemic
BKLYN Commons, Brooklyns premier coworking space and home to more than 300 indoor storefront businesses owned and operated by entrepreneurs, creators, change-makers, and forward-thinking innovators. What weve done at BKLYN Commons is create a community where our members collaborate and support each other, said Johanne Brierre, BKLYN Commons head of growth. Building a community […]
Posted inLocal Voices
The Black Lady Theatre Shuttered
On January 8, 2020, this reporter went on a reconnaissance mission. There was the question of whether The Black Lady Theatre on Nostrand Avenue and Slave 1 Theatre on Fulton Street had the status of being on-going concerns. It was a bit of jolt to find the Slave Theater absent from its location, 1215 Fulton […]
Posted inBedford Stuyvesant
City Puts On Hold Controversial Home Seizure Program ‘Until Further Analysis’
After months of embattled meetings, packed town halls and ongoing complaints by residents to elected officials, Third Party Transfer Program (TPT)— a citywide program that sells off distressed properties in foreclosure and turns them into affordable housing– may be getting a much-needed update. New York City’s Department of Housing, Preservation and Development (HPD) that runs […]
Posted inFeatured News Archive
Why So Many Black Property Owners in Central Brooklyn Are Losing Their Homes, Explained
Black homeowners in Central Brooklyn are losing their homes at an alarming rate, and the main culprits are deed theft and the city’s controversial Third Party Transfer Program. As of March 2019, there were at least 6,000 foreclosures pending in Kings County with more are on the way, according to Catherine Isobe, senior staff attorney […]
Posted inFeatured News Archive
Brooklyn Pols to Hold Hearing on Citys Homeownership Crisis
In response to the spike of homeowners losing their property and equity, Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams, State Senator Velmanette Montgomery and Assemblymember Tremaine Wright will be holding a joint hearing on Friday, March 15, to examine the citys homeownership housing crisis. The hearing, which will take place from 2:00pm to 6:00pm at Brooklyn Borough […]
Posted inCrown Heights
Adams, Cornegy Call for Investigation into City Seizures of Brooklyn Homes
Borough President Eric L. Adams and Council Member Robert Cornegy, Jr. called on Monday for a city, state and federal investigation into the issue of deed fraud and the role of the citys controversial Third Party Transfer program that has impacted numerous Brooklyn homeowners. The TPT program, under which the city forecloses on distressed, neglected […]
Posted inCrime
A Long Island Man Who Stole a Bushwick Home Just Got Sentenced up to 10 Years in Prison
A Long Island man has received a sentence of up to 10 years in prison for stealing the Bushwick property that belonged to an 89-year-old woman. 48-year-old Shavard Callaway was sentenced to an indeterminate term of five to 10 years in prison by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Phyllis Chu. The sentencing follows a jury trial […]
Posted inNews
People are Stealing Mail — Here’s How to Protect Yourself, AG James Says
Attorney General Letitia James is issuing a consumer alert after a recent spike in mail theft. “Stealing mail is a violation of privacy, it is a federal crime, and it causes real problems,” James said in a press release. Last month, James broke up a deed theft ring that stole more than $1 million from […]