Sunset Park Landlords Accused Of Evicting Latinos Settle Lawsuit

SUNSET PARK, NY — Sunset Park landlords settled a federal lawsuit that accused them of targeting Latino tenants for eviction, demanding proof of immigration status and repeatedly trying to evict a pregnant woman who said the stress of Housing Court caused her to miscarry her twins.

Adel and Linda Eskander settled the lawsuit, brought by eight tenants at 601 and 614 40th St. in January, that accused the couple of using discriminatory tactics to deregulate rent-controlled apartments, the Legal Aid Society announced Friday.

“In today’s increasingly anti-immigrant climate, we are proud to stand with these tenants to fight for their basic rights” said Sunny Noh, Supervising Attorney of the Tenant Rights Coalition at The Legal Aid Society.

“This settlement delivers justice for these tenants and puts landlords across New York City on notice that this type of aggression will never be tolerated.”

The agreement comes months after tenants filed a suit against the landlords that claimed the Eskanders, who bought the buildings in 2003, were guilty of a discriminatory and "aggressive displacement" campaign that cut the number of rent-controlled units in half, the lawsuit claimed.

"I don't like having Latinos, blacks or Chinese here because they're sedentary," Adel Eskander told Altagracia Tejada, according to court papers. "They never move. I need people to move."

Tenants accused the couple of forcing long-term Latino tenants — but not white renters — to sign lease agreements that demanded proof of immigration status, according to the suit.

The Eskanders also tried to kick-out Latino tenants over "baseless" lawsuits that resulted, in one instance, in a resident’s miscarriage, according to the suit.

Tejada had pre-paid her rent before heading to the Dominican Republic for the winter in 2012, but the landlords didn’t cash the checks and repeatedly tried to evict her, according to the suit.

The couple once hauled her into Housing Court while she was pregnant with twins and Tejada said the stress caused her to miscarry.

In another instance, when Tejada told her landlords the dangerously hot water in her apartment had scalded her child's hand, the Eskanders sent a text threatening to call child services and called her "a bad mommy."

In the settlement, the Eskanders agreed to stop asking tenants for citizenship status, re-register deregulated rent-stabilized apartments, decrease rents by as much as 20 percent, and undergo Fair Housing trainings, according to the Legal Aid society announcement.

Patch was not immediately able to reach the Eskanders for comment.

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