Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh described landlords who tricked and deceived tenants, subjecting them to ‘miserable living conditions’
Property management Branch of Jared Kushner’s family real estate business has agreed to pay more than $3.25 million to the state of Maryland to settle a lawsuit alleging the company ‘victimized’ financially vulnerable principles ‘at every stage of supply and rental,” ProPublica reported on Friday.
“This is a case in which landlords tricked and deceived tenants and subjected them to miserable living conditions,” state Attorney General Brian Frosh told a conference call. press announcing the settlement with Westminster Management, according to ProPublica. “They weren’t rich people. Many struggled to pay the rent, to put food on the table, to look after their children, to keep everyone healthy, and Westminster used its vastly superior economic power to take advantage of it.
The lawsuit, which was filed by the state in 2019, details the horrific treatment of tenants at several suburban Baltimore resorts owned by Kushner’s company, including aggressively trying to defraud tenants of money that they failing and failing to maintain the rental complexes to the point that they have become ridden with mold, infested with rodents and otherwise damaged. Frosh noted Friday that the company is aware of these issues.
Westminster Management has in the past alleged the lawsuit was a political ploy by a Democratic attorney general to smear President Donald Trump’s son-in-law. The company said in a statement to the Baltimore banner on Friday that it was “pleased to have resolved this litigation without an admission of liability or wrongdoing.” Frosh was skeptical. “You don’t pay $3.25 million if you’re not responsible,” he told the outlet. “So they may not have officially signed a piece of paper saying ‘We did it’, but they did.”
The company could end up paying more than $3.25 million, as it has also been instructed to contact the tens of thousands of potentially affected tenants and let them know they may be eligible for reimbursement of unnecessary costs that the company has charged them over the past decade.
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