More suits against Slumlord

The young lawyer who first turned the spotlight on slum landlord Nicholas Haros, has filed three more lawsuits on behalf of his tenants.
Rob McCreanor, an attorney with Catholic Migration Services, filed suits for 34 families of 37-52 89th Street, where a deadly fire last year left the building in miserable condition, and five families in both 35-18 95th Street and 35-24 95th Street on Monday, March 6.
“I think that this issue will not go away, and that there will be a change in the way that this guy has to do business,” said McCreanor, who has filed 10 previous lawsuits against Haros.
McCreanor has won over 200 court orders for repairs, but Haros has made only “band aid” repairs to date, McCreanor said.
At a town hall meeting last Wednesday with Assemblyman Jose Peralta, McCreanor gathered one-third of the tenants together to file the lawsuit, and he expects resident involvement to increase in older buildings.
“You shouldn’t have to sue your landlords in order to get what you are paying for,” McCreanor said. “Building by building, we are successful in compelling [Haros] to make repairs.”
With Haros in mind, Peralta is also drafting legislation to stop slumlords, defined as property owners with multiple confirmed housing violations, from collecting any state tax credits on their properties.
Other lawmakers also hope to reduce tax credits that Haros receives on his 81 buildings in the city, 47 of which are located in Queens.