Settlement Reached With Landlord After Years of Code and Tenant Harassment Violations

The city has reached a settlement over repeat building code and tenant harassment violations with a Brooklyn-based landlord who has topped the Public Advocate’s Worst Landlord list two years in a row.

Jason Korn, who owns a slew of properties in Brooklyn and Manhattan incorporated under LLCs, has reached an agreement with the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) to pay $235,000 in civil penalties for hundreds of violations at six buildings, four in Brooklyn and two in Manhattan, and agreed to correct all active housing code violations within 90 days and to come into compliance with the city’s tenant harassment law.

“Landlords have a responsibility to provide safe housing for their tenants and when they fail to meet that responsibility, there needs to be consequences,” said HPD Commissioner Louise Carroll in a statement. “Even while we offer assistance to tenants and landlords who are struggling to maintain their properties, landlords should know that HPD will also use the full weight of its enforcement capabilities if they repeatedly fail to uphold their obligation to ensure that New Yorkers live in safe and secure housing.”

The six buildings in question are home to 388 households, according to HPD. Of the four in Brooklyn, two of them are in Midwood (1921 Avenue I and 1439 Ocean Avenue) while the other two are in Flatbush (578 East 17th Street and 250 East 29th Street). The buildings involved in the settlement also include two in Inwood in Manhattan.

Korn has exhibited gross negligence in managing his properties, HPD found. Investigators documented hundreds of violations in 35 inspections at the buildings in question, finding rampant rodent and insect infestation, mold, lead paint violations and leaks, among other things. On numerous occasions, Korn also submitted paperwork falsely certifying that outstanding violations had been corrected.

The department said it will continue monitoring Korn’s buildings to ensure he complies with the terms of the settlement, and said it will take him to court if he fails to do so.

Korn has 10 buildings, with 459 total units, listed on Public Advocate Jumaane Williams’ 2020 worst landlord list, where he is listed as the No. 1 worst individual landlord in the city. Throughout 2020, Korn maintained an average of 1,822 open housing code violations at his properties at any one time.

Tenants have risked eviction to organize against the conditions, including at buildings that aren’t part of the settlement. Tenants at 1616 President Street in Crown Heights went on a rent strike last year in protest of broken locks on front doors, leaky pipes, crumbling or collapsed ceilings, mold and pest infestations, Curbed reported. Korn responded by threatening to evict them, Curbed said.

At nearby 776 Crown Street, tenants are calling for top to bottom repairs of issues like collapsed ceilings and widespread mold. One tenant told Brooklyn Paper in May that the mold was so bad in her apartment that her daughter had developed asthma. An inspector sent by the landlord contended the apartment was mold free, but when she called 311 to bring in her own inspector, she was advised that the situation was so bad that her best option was to relocate.

An attorney for Korn did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

Editor’s note: A version of this story originally ran in Brooklyn Paper. Click here to see the original story.

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