Vantage forum attracts concerned tenants

Over 300 tenants currently residing in apartments owned and operated by Vantage Properties, LLC joined local legislative representatives in Jackson Heights late last month to discuss the property firm’s recent displacement and attempted eviction of many of its residents.
The town hall-styled forum, which took place in the auditorium of Blessed Sacrament Parish on 93rd Street, attempted to broach Vantage’s alleged illegal business practices and, as residents have claimed, systematic harassment.
Vantage Properties, which was formed in late 2005 and often obtains financing through Apollo Real Estate Advisors, owns or manages some 9,200 units in the city.
Since October of 2006, Vantage Properties has purchased approximately 80 large, rent-regulated apartment buildings in Western Queens. Many tenants living in the recently procured buildings have reported serious problems in the year since Vantage took over, including peeling paint, leaky ceilings, and general lack of heat and/or hot water.
In addition, many tenants have gone from literally not having hot water to figuratively being in it, finding themselves at the short end of Vantage’s new business models - residents say they have been presented with repeated requests for proof of residency and unwarranted nonpayment and eviction notices.
Now, according to Robert McCreanor, director of legal services at the Immigrant Tenant Advocacy Project of the Catholic Migration Office in Sunnyside, the tenants are taking the lead.
McCreanor, who has described Vantage as an “eviction mill,” has been battling the company in court on behalf of all of the company’s tenants. Currently there are 10 families represented as plaintiffs. He hopes to establish a precedent that will benefit all tenants claiming harassment.
The forum follows a demonstration against Vantage Properties and its subsidiary, Vantage Management, outside the offices of its largest financier, Credit Suisse, in April. That demonstration drew hundreds of concerned tenants.
“It’s affected more people recently,” said Christine Roland, director of Housing and Homelessness Prevention at the Queens Community House, a not-for-profit service group based in Forest Hills.
Roland, who says Queens Community House has been involved with Vantage tenants since late February, was pleased with last month’s turnout.
“It’s a really exciting event because people are taking ownership of the issue,” she said. “They’re not just sitting back and being victims.”
The forum, part rally, part information session, drew several local politicians as well, including State Senators Toby Ann Stavisky and John Sabini, in addition to Assemblymember Jose Peralta and Councilmember Eric Gioia. Proxies for other local officials attended.
Tenants urged officials to oppose what is being called the “predatory equity” of Vantage that is falsely ousting them from their homes and which critics argue is compromising a large portion of affordable rent-controlled housing in the boroughs.
Peralta has voiced criticism of Vantage’s business practices in the past, and was no less vocal at the assembly.
“There’s a big problem on the state level and that’s called vacancy decontrol,” he said.
The assemblymember suggested senate action on several tenants’ rights bills that would cap the amount a landlord could increase the rent once an apartment is vacated.
In a statement, Vantage affirmed its commitment to rehabilitating the buildings it purchases: “As long-term investors, we seek to maintain our buildings to a very high standard, provide quality property management services, and offer our residents excellent customer service.”
The statement went on to call allegations of its undue legal cases “100 percent false,” adding that the company only pursues legal action when defending its rights, such as in cases involving unpaid rent or illegal occupancy.