Report: Management company sues Raphael Toledano for backing out of $130 million loan

Landlord Raphael Toledano is facing more legal woes following the purchase last September of a 16-building East Village portfolio.

The Real Deal has the story:

An affiliate of Larry Gluck’s Stellar Management is suing Raphael Toledano, claiming the investor accepted a $130 million mortgage to finance the acquisition of his East Village portfolio, but then backed out of the deal and refused to pay the $1.9 million break-up fee.

“Almost immediately after signing the contract on July 15,2015,” Stellar states in the suit, “Toledano opted to take out a $124 million loan from Madison Realty Capital to finance the portfolio purchase. Toledano's agreement with Madison Realty Capital was in direct violation of the exclusivity provision of the contract and constitutes as a breach of contract.”

The is the latest legal matter involving Toledano to make headlines. Last spring, rent-regulated tenants at 444 E. 13th St. accused Toledano, 26, and a management company he hired of harassment and intimidation.

Prior to closing on the East Village deal this past fall, Toledano's uncle, Rosewood Realty Group's Aaron Jungreis, sued his nephew, claiming that he was squeezed out of the deal. (That suit was later settled.)

In December, The Real Deal reported on a possible link between Toledano and a fake law firm, Truman & Wildes LLP.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Claim: Landlord of 444 E. 13th St. threatened 'to drop dynamite on the building'

Reader report: Large portfolio of East Village buildings ready to change hands

Report: State investigating East Village landlord Raphael Toledano

Report: Uncle suing nephew broker Raphael Toledano over $100 million East Village deal

Report: Raphael Toledano completes purchase of 16-building East Village portfolio

More about alleged harassment and landlord visits via Brook Hill Properties

Brook Hill Properties launches chocolate offensive

In op-ed, Raphael Toledano says that he wants 'to make the East Village a better place'

Report: East Village landlord Raphael Toledano allegedly misrepresented himself as a lawyer

The Villager looks at landlord Raphael Toledano's criminal past

An open letter to landlord Raphael Toledano from the Toledano Tenants Coalition

Report: East Village landlord Raphael Toledano allegedly misrepresented himself as a lawyer

The Real Deal has published an investigative article about new East Village landlord Raphael Toledano, and how he allegedly misrepresented himself as a lawyer.

According to the article:

In the summer of 2014, a New York landlord with a modest portfolio received a letter from a certain Raphael Toledano, Esq. In the letter, Toledano allegedly identified himself as belonging to Truman & Wildes LLP, a Park Avenue law firm. He claimed to be representing real estate investor Josh Zegen in a 1031 exchange, and assured the landlord that his client was interested in one of his buildings and would “pay above market value” for it.

The issue, however, is that Truman & Wildes LLP is bogus. It is not a licensed law firm in the tri-state area, and isn’t even a registered entity in Delaware, Connecticut, New Jersey or New York. Its website, which was taken down shortly after The Real Deal began making inquiries, appears to be a basic web template with language lifted verbatim from legitimate law firms. Misrepresenting oneself as a lawyer is illegal.

For his part, Toledano, a former broker and now a prominent local real estate investor, denies any connection with the law firm. But property records and interviews with his former employees, business associates and industry players indicate otherwise.

In compiling nearly a 20-building portfolio, the majority of them in the East Village, the 25-year-old Toledano "has been peppered with allegations of cheating his partners and harassing his tenants," as The Real Deal put it.

To date, rent-stabilized tenants at 444 E. 13th St. have filed suit against him for alleged harassment. In addition, in August, Aaron Jungreis, one of the city's elite multifamily brokers, sued Toledano, "claiming he was squeezed out of a $100 million deal" to acquire 16 East Village buildings. (That suit was later settled.)

In addition, the landlord of Toledano's Flatiron office reportedly filed suit against him for failing to pay rent.

As for multiple identifications, City Limits noted this in an article about Toledano and 444 E. 13th St. back in September:

Curiously, there are numerous websites with similar URLs purporting to have been created by Raphael Toledanos across the country that fill up Google search results for his name. One Raphael Toledano is "a fervent traveler from the incredible state of Chicago," another is a "19-year-old boy from Ohio who wants to become an internationally recognized soccer player," and still another is "an Assistant Principal in one of the reputed schools of Rhode Island." Each of these sites was created on January 28, 2015 according to registration information on whois.net.

The last post on each of the sites is Feb. 24.

Toledano and Brook Hill closed on the 16-building East Village portfolio for $97 million back in the fall.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Claim: Landlord of 444 E. 13th St. threatened 'to drop dynamite on the building'

Reader report: Large portfolio of East Village buildings ready to change hands

Report: State investigating East Village landlord Raphael Toledano

Report: Uncle suing nephew broker Raphael Toledano over $100 million East Village deal

Report: Raphael Toledano completes purchase of 16-building East Village portfolio

More about alleged harassment and landlord visits via Brook Hill Properties

Brook Hill Properties launches chocolate offensive

In op-ed, Raphael Toledano says that he wants 'to make the East Village a better place'

Report: Toledano tenants hanging tough in face of evictions

The Villager checks in with a piece this week about residents now living in buildings owned by new landlord Raphael Toledo (pictured right).

As the paper notes, to date, "Toledano, who purchased more than a dozen properties in the area this year, hasn’t made the best of impressions on his new tenants, who have reported late-night phone calls and ominous visits by his associates that leave them feeling threatened."

And there have been a few eviction notices, which arrived after buyout offers. Lawyer David Frazer currently represents three Toledano tenants in rent-regulated apartments in the neighborhood.

“Two of the cases that I currently represent involve completely made-up allegations by the landlord, one of which they’ve already caved in on and given my client a renewal lease,” Frazer told The Villager.

The attorney said that case involved a tenant who had a pseudonym listed on his mailbox from the beginning of his tenancy, which the landlord used as evidence to claim that the man was illegally subletting the apartment.

Read the whole Villager article here.

In a $97 million deal, Toledano and Brook Hill closed on a 16-building East Village portfolio back in the fall.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Claim: Landlord of 444 E. 13th St. threatened 'to drop dynamite on the building'

Reader report: Large portfolio of East Village buildings ready to change hands

Report: State investigating East Village landlord Raphael Toledano

Report: Uncle suing nephew broker Raphael Toledano over $100 million East Village deal

Report: Raphael Toledano completes purchase of 16-building East Village portfolio

More about alleged harassment and landlord visits via Brook Hill Properties

Brook Hill Properties launches chocolate offensive

In op-ed, Raphael Toledano says that he wants 'to make the East Village a better place'

Report: Lawsuit accuses Raphael Toledano of not paying his office rent

Report: Lawsuit accuses Raphael Toledano of not paying his office rent

Rent-stabilized tenants at the Raphael Toledano-owned 444 E. 13th St. have claimed that they were allegedly threatened and harassed to leave their homes.

Toledano is now reportedly having landlord issues of his own.

Per The Real Deal:

Landlord HRC Corporation is accusing broker-turned-investor Raphael Toledano of failing to pay rent at his Flatiron District office.

HRC filed suit Wednesday, asking a State Supreme Court judge to award it a total of $6.4 million, the amount allegedly due over the entire 10-year lease, plus damages.

In a statement, a Brook Hill spokesperson wrote "We are not in default of the lease."

In a $97 million deal, Toledano and Brook Hill closed on a 16-building East Village portfolio back in the fall.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Claim: Landlord of 444 E. 13th St. threatened 'to drop dynamite on the building'

Reader report: Large portfolio of East Village buildings ready to change hands

Report: State investigating East Village landlord Raphael Toledano

Report: Uncle suing nephew broker Raphael Toledano over $100 million East Village deal

Report: Raphael Toledano completes purchase of 16-building East Village portfolio

More about alleged harassment and landlord visits via Brook Hill Properties

Brook Hill Properties launches chocolate offensive

In op-ed, Raphael Toledano says that he wants 'to make the East Village a better place'

About 'a coordinated visit' to buildings owned by Brookhill Properties on East 5th Street

[EVG file photo of 233-235 E. 5th St.]

Despite assurances to the contrary, some residents who live in the 16 buildings that Raphael Toledano's Brookhill Properties recently purchased are apprehensive about their future rental situations… especially with the news that has been coming out of 444 E. 13th St. in recent months, where rent-stablized tenants claim that they were allegedly threatened and harassed to leave their homes after Brookhill's January acquisition. (See The New York Times and DNAinfo for more background.)

We received the following statement from the East Fifth Street Toledano Tenants Coalition, consisting of five Toledano-owned buildings on Fifth Street between Second Avenue and Cooper Square.

[T]hese five buildings on East Fifth Street received a coordinated visit last Thursday [Oct. 22] by a group of representatives from the New York State Attorney General’s office, The New York City Department of Buildings and The New York State Division of Housing and Renewal. All apartment doors were knocked on, and representatives spoke with available tenants, made inspections of apartment conditions and building conditions and issued violations to the buildings. Perhaps the presence of these state and city agencies will ensure that Toledano’s tenants on East Fifth Street will not have to suffer what those at 444 East 13th St. did.

Meanwhile, a resident on East Fifth Street passed along this letter, noting that "Brookhill forgot to pay his post office box fee! Attached is a letter all East Fifth Street residents received last week."


[Click on image for larger view]

Per the note:

We are doing our best to have your monthly rent payments processed as soon as possible and apologize for any delay in doing so during this first month of ownership. Moving forward you can be confident that processing of your payments will be timely and accurate. This being said, if you have found that your rent check has not been processed for the month of October 2015 and your bank account has not been debited, please re-send your payment to the below address. We have been informed by USPS that there was a system glitch, which resulted in the return of numerous tenant's rent payments. This was remedied on October 19,2015.

If your payment was processed and thus your account has been debited, no action is required on your part. Please continue to ensure that your check is made payable to the order of
the specific LLC designated to your building.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Claim: Landlord of 444 E. 13th St. threatened 'to drop dynamite on the building'

Reader report: Large portfolio of East Village buildings ready to change hands

Report: State investigating East Village landlord Raphael Toledano

Report: Uncle suing nephew broker Raphael Toledano over $100 million East Village deal

Report: Raphael Toledano completes purchase of 16-building East Village portfolio

More about alleged harassment and landlord visits via Brook Hill Properties

Brook Hill Properties launches chocolate offensive

In op-ed, Raphael Toledano says that he wants 'to make the East Village a better place'

Report: Raphael Toledano completes purchase of 16-building East Village portfolio

[233-235 E. 5th St.]

Raphael Toledano’s Brook Hill Properties has completed the purchase of 16 East Village buildings from the Tabak family, paying $97 million, according to The Real Deal.

The portfolio amounts to 301 apartments and 15 retail spaces. Here are the addresses (updated this list 9/12):

• 27 St. Marks Place – 20 residential units; 2 commercial units
• 66 East 7th Street – 22 residential units; 2 commercial units
• 95 East 7th Street – 20 residential units
• 223 East 5th Street – 18 residential units
• 228 East 6th Street – 20 residential units; 2 commercial units
• 229 East 5th Street – 10 residential units
• 231 East 5th Street – 8 residential units; 2 commercial units
• 233 East 5th Street – 10 residential units
• 235 East 5th Street – 10 residential units
• 253 East 10th Street – 20 residential units; 1 commercial unit
• 323-325 East 12th Street – 37 residential units
• 327 East 12th Street – 22 residential units; 2 commercial units
• 329 East 12th Street – 24 residential units
• 334 East 9th Street – 20 residential units; 2 commercial units
• 510 East 12th Street – 20 residential units; 2 commercial units
• 514 East 12th Street – 20 residential units

The deal moved forward despite the fact that Toledano’s uncle, power broker Aaron Jungreis, is suing him. According to the Daily News, the two allegedly agreed to form a joint venture to acquire the buildings, but Toledano reportedly went behind his uncle's back to buy them himself. Jungreis accuses his nephew of being "motivated solely by greed." (This suit was settled. See update below.)

In other East Village Toledano legal action... In May, rent-regulated tenants at 444 E. 13th St. filed a lawsuit against Toledano and his Goldmark Property Management for "deplorable conditions" as well as for alleged ongoing threats and harassment.

Then in August, state officials served subpoenas on Goldmark Property Managmenet, investigating whether the company threatened tenants with police raids, evictions and the shut off of essential service, as The Real Deal put it.

Updated 11:30 a.m.

Real Estate Weekly had more details on the sale...

Toledano, who at 25 is the youngest landlord in New York City with a portfolio of this size, and Brookhill Properties are focusing on this neighborhood because of its appeal to millennials (18-35 year-olds) and the significant potential for continued growth. Toledano is currently under contract to purchase an additional 11 buildings in the East Village, West Village and Murray Hill for $55 million.

“We are committed to being a force for good in the neighborhood and providing our tenants with high-quality apartments,” Toledano said. “Our company is not just a property owner, we are members of this East Village community and look forward to partnering with local groups to show our dedication.”

Updated 12:30 p.m.

The Real Deal reports that Jungreis and Toledano have settled...

“I am glad that we were able to amicably settle with Mr. Jungreis and continue focusing on what matters – serving our tenants and asserting ourselves as the largest landlord in the East Village while continuing to better the community,” Toledano told The Real Deal.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Claim: Landlord of 444 E. 13th St. threatened 'to drop dynamite on the building'

Reader report: Large portfolio of East Village buildings ready to change hands

Report: State investigating East Village landlord Raphael Toledano

Report: Uncle suing nephew broker Raphael Toledano over $100 million East Village deal

Reader report: Large portfolio of East Village buildings ready to change hands

[233-235 E. 5th St.]

We've heard from several residents in recent weeks about the impending sale of several buildings on East Fifth Street between Second Avenue and Cooper Square.

Here's part of an email from one of the residents:

My building, like four others on the block (223, 229, 231, 233 and 235), is owned by Morton Tabak and Co. LLC. When I originally rented the apartment, I rented it from Morton Tabak himself, who was a very nice man and a decent landlord. Several years ago, his family took over the management of the building, at which point they switched the ownership to the LLC. They're not as nice as Mr. Tabak was, but there have been no major problems dealing with them.

Twice now in the past few weeks there have been notices posted near our mailboxes mentioning the "sale" of the Tabak buildings on Fifth Street and inviting tenants to meetings about it.

Now a tipster tells us that the East Fifth Street buildings are part of a larger portfolio that's changing hands.

Here's some preliminary information from the tipster:

The Tabak family is currently in the process of selling 17 of their buildings — most of them in the East Village. The buyer is Brook Hill Properties/Goldmark Property Management. As of now we are not aware of any official closings.

However, some tenants have already been contacted by Brook Hill Properties introducing themselves as the new landlord. They are measuring apartments and taking photos of people’s spaces. In addition, an official letter was emailed to some tenants announcing the transfer of "management and ownership" to Brook Hill Properties.

At the same time many tenants are being told that this is only a transition in management. The whole process has been opaque and extremely disorganized.

Goldmark Property Management made headlines in the spring when residents at 444 E. 13th St. claimed that the company "has waged a campaign of harassment aimed at driving them out of their rent-regulated apartments," according to published reports. A staff attorney at the Urban Justice Center, who is representing the East 13th Street tenants, told reporters that "there are tape recorded conversations where the landlord is threatening to drop dynamite on the building and then let everyone 'figure it out themselves.'"

Have more information on what's going on with the Tabak-owned buildings? Please hit us up via email.