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Brooklyn Landlords Admit To Scheme To Force Out Rent-Stabilized Tenants

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Two Brooklyn landlords pleaded guilty Tuesday to a scheme to defraud and illegally evict their tenants.

Joel Israel and his brother Amrom Israel, also known as Aaron Israel, admitted to a scheme to defraud and to unlawful eviction, according to Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez. They are accused of demolishing apartments to force people out of rent-stabilized units in Bushwick, Greenpoint, and Williamsburg.

The landlords could have charged higher rents to new residents.

"New York has zero tolerance for those who seek to defraud or discriminate against rent-regulated tenants trying to make a home for themselves and their families," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a news release. "Together with our state and local partners, the Tenant Protection Unit will further crack down on unscrupulous landlords and ensure that those responsible for this reprehensible conduct are held to full account. The state is committed to protecting tenants' rights and ensuring access to safe, decent, affordable housing statewide."

CBS2 first reported the story of Joel Israel back in 2014, when tenants in several of his buildings claimed he was trying to force them out by ripping up their apartments for repairs that would never happen.

"He should be in jail," one tenant said then. "My landlord should be in jail."

Residents at 98 Linden Blvd. in Bushwick were forced to live in deplorable conditions inside gutted apartment, many partially demolished.

Israel and his brother own several other buildings where tenants say the same thing has happened.

Many residents were forced to move out after their homes were boarded up and ruled uninhabitable by the city.

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