Neighbors Organize Against Deed Theft, Call Out Investors Who Target Heirs

On a recent Saturday, a crowd of around 50 people gathered outside 212 Jefferson Avenue in Bed Stuy to hold a mock trial against property speculator brothers Joseph and Elliot Ambalo, and others who target elderly or vulnerable homeowners in predominantly Black and brown neighborhoods.

The mock trial, which included a number of testimonials from people struggling to retain ownership of their homes, was an attempt to hold speculators accountable for allegedly pushing a number of mostly older Black and brown residents out of their neighborhoods, a number of speakers—including the mock “people’s judge” dressed in a judicial gown—said.

The judge for the day explained how she had made the trip from Harlem to Bed Stuy for the rally, because she, like many in the crowd, was trying to retain ownership of a Harlem brownstone that had been in her family for almost 103 years. She accused the Ambalos of trying to gain ownership of the house without her family’s consent, saying: “To have them come in and steal it and nobody questions anything is outrageous.”

“The court system is failing us, they are continuing to make deed laws that they are not enacting, not enforcing, and they are pushing us out. They are using landlord tenant court to get away with it, and nobody is listening to us.”

Members of the crowd, which included City Council Member Chi Ossé, State Senator Jabari Brisport, and former East New York politico Charles Barron, carried posters showing the number of properties the brothers, along with a third business partner, Etai Vardi, have taken over in recent years, as well as ones with slogans including “we ain’t going nowhere” and “people over profit.”

“In this community trial, and this community movement, we find the Ambalo brothers guilty as charged,” said Albert Scott Jr., a leader at East New York Community Land Trust, which helped to organize the event. “So judge, I’m saying you find the Ambalo brothers guilty of cultural and economic thievery, cultural and economic fraud, and more or less, as another charge, for elder abuse.”

The faux court action follows real court cases the pair and Vardi have faced for allegedly pushing homeowners out of their homes through deed theft and heirs schemes, according to reports and numerous court documents. The group was also deposed by the Queens District Attorney last year.

But, according to those at the rally, despite the community trying to get justice through the official channels, the trio’s behavior, and that of other similar actors, has been allowed to continue by the city’s and state’s governing bodies, including the courts.

Scott Jr. said despite a number of complaints against the Ambalos and Vardi, whom he called a threat to community wealth building, they kept speculating on and taking over Brooklyn homes, and he said it was past time the State Attorney General Letitia James and other elected representatives did a thorough investigation into the group, and other investors who use practices like theirs.

“It’s simply a community economic warfare against Bed Stuy, East New York, Brownsville, Harlem, and so many communities that look like ours, but we are definitely going to take the necessary steps,” he said.

Many of the accusations the brothers and Vardi face are around heirs schemes, whereby the trio allegedly identifies houses whose owners have died, often in predominantly Black and brown neighborhoods like East New York, and tracks down heirs (often far flung) to buy the properties or portions of them for low amounts. They then evict tenants and flip the houses for much higher prices. The group also face allegations of forged notary and heir signatures, and deed fraud.

While the method of tracking down heirs to a property owner and offering money to buy their share is legal, many said the practice requires more regulation and oversight.

Vardi told The City last year that the trio “always and will continue to operate within the law and in an ethical manner,” and told Brownstoner this week that they have no intention of pushing people out of their homes. “We never try to push anybody out of a property,” he said. The trio has filed to evict a number of people living in buildings they’ve bought, and Vardi said that was due to people living there illegally or squatting.

He said the trio typically “try to work out some sort of a deal or some sort of situation where we can pay them to leave,” adding “court is the last resort.”

In regards to buying shares from heirs, he said there were situations where a number of people are involved in a property and only one or two are benefiting from it, and the others “want to collect their money and move on with their lives.”

The backdrop for the rally, the house at 212 Jefferson Avenue in Bed Stuy, is at the center of an ownership struggle that stems from an heirs sale. According to city records, the house was sold by Leon Morrison and a number of supposed heirs to 227 Group LLC in November for $1.4 million. However, the longtime owner Allman Charrington — a great uncle transferred the property to Allman and his sister in the 1980s — was completely unaware of the house being sold while his daughter and her family were still living there, according to his daughter, Carmella Charrington.

Carmella Charrington said in January men claiming to be the new owners of the house, where she said she has lived for around 15 years, entered the property and changed the locks, and didn’t leave until the police told them to. They returned, and again she called the police. Since January, members of the LLC haven’t been back to the house, she said.

Charrington, her father Allman, her sister, and other relatives were at the rally demanding the governing bodies in New York do more to protect vulnerable homeowners like her elderly father. She alleged Allman is in an abusive conservatorship in Georgia that her family and Allman himself have been trying to get him out of. It was the conservator in Georgia who signed the deed transfer on Allman’s behalf, without his knowledge.

Charrington alleged that the relative behind the transfer, Leon Morrison, didn’t have a legal claim to sell the house, and she was trying to take action in court to nix the sale, as well as get the Brooklyn and state district attorneys involved in investigating the transfer.

While an LLC run by the Ambalos and Vardi had previously entered a contract to buy the house from Leon Morrison, city records show that contract was canceled and the signatory for the new buyer, 227 Group LLC, is listed in records as Simon Blitz. Vardi told Brownstoner the trio canceled the contract because “it’s so complex, and there is so much family history” involved in the house.

At the rally, Charrington told the crowd, “Our family thanks you.” She continued, “My dad is here, he’s a little overwhelmed by seeing everybody here, my sister is here. I thank you all so much for listening to our stories, we don’t want anyone to deal with this in silence.”

Charrington was connected to East New York Community Land Trust, who helped organize the rally, when she came across the story of Tami Green online, and came to support her in court in her case against the Ambalos. Green, in turn, was at the rally outside 212 Jefferson Avenue.

“This is something that has been going on for quite some time, and it was falling on deaf ears,” Green said at the rally. “Now that we are victims, we’re coming together united. We have to stand up as a community, we don’t want to get up and move nowhere else.”

Green said it doesn’t make sense that people aren’t required to bring identification when transferring deeds, adding “there are loopholes in the system that allow them [investors] to win, while we, people of color or economically disadvantaged, lose, and I don’t like to lose. I want to say that as long as we unite, united we stand, and united we grow.”

Green is currently involved in a legal battle over whether she can stay in the East New York house she has lived in for 10 years, after the Ambalo brothers apparently bought it from the late owners’ heirs and filed to evict her. She is trying to assert a claim of adverse possession on the house to get legal ownership.

At the rally, Green, Charrington, Scott Jr., and a number of other speakers encouraged community members to speak up about predatory investing in Brooklyn so people could see how common it is, and encouraged neighbors to come together and share their stories. One of Charrington’s neighbors who did just that was Ayisha Doyles.

As the rally was coming to an end, Doyles told the dozens gathered about how she has been battling to retain ownership of her family’s Jefferson Avenue house, which her great-grandmother had purchased decades ago. In recent years, she said, the family has been in and out of court fighting to retain ownership.

“I’ve gone to court numerous times and stood up by myself as I’ve watched them, city agencies, give preference to LLCs,” she said, adding it isn’t fair that the burden of proof often falls to longtime owners rather than the investors. “This is a house that’s supposed to be of justice, for everybody. It’s just like capital punishment, if you don’t have the capital you get punished.”

She called the process of predatory speculation, investing, and deed scams “real estate rape.”

“What is rape but exerting your power over somebody else and taking the most precious thing that they have, their own sovereignty, their own independence, the kind of atrocity that we are facing on a daily basis,” she said.

Doyles said there is a misconception that deeds are taken or transferred because homeowners “just dropped the ball,” but she said that isn’t the case, and even if a homeowner did fall behind on a payment there are no “for sale” signs in front of their houses.

“There should be no shelter for these people in the court system, but continually they are given preference. We need more people to continue to speak out, not just at these events, but in court.”

She said “suffering in silence wreaks havoc on your home life, on your health, your financial stability,” and destabilizes generations, and she urged those at the rally to not be silent and to check in with neighbors.

“I know many of the people who gave their testimony here today are going through or have gone through this. I know your struggle. Please understand that you are not alone. Do not be afraid to speak up and share with neighbors, with anybody who you can.”

A spokesperson for the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office told Brownstoner in a statement that the office “shares community concerns over predatory real estate practices and is working to confront this issue in various ways.”

“We review every complaint and in recent years have obtained 24 indictments against 36 individuals, resulting in many convictions which have led to a precipitous drop in deed theft complaints being made to the city’s Department of Finance. We also hold educational sessions to help people protect themselves and advocate for tougher legislation, including for laws to address partition sales. Most legal disputes over these schemes do not meet the high bar for criminal fraud and are civil in nature, and the best defense is prevention. Homeowners are encouraged to register with the Department of Finance’s Automated City Register Information System (ACRIS) to receive notifications regarding any changes to their property records, to never sign any contracts they don’t understand, and to consult independent lawyers and not ones offered by potential buyers.”

On June 11, State Attorney General Letitia James will be holding a community education event on deed theft and foreclosure prevention in Bed Stuy. The event, which a rep said will include a number of local elected officials, will include information on the Homeowner Protection Program, which provides a network of housing counselors and legal services to help homeowners retain their properties and avoid scams. The event will be held at Bed Stuy’s Restoration Plaza at 1368 Fulton Street from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

[Photos by Anna Bradley-Smith]

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