Thread: Kushner owns lots of Baltimore-area apartments. Some are infested with mice

Kushner owns lots of Baltimore-area apartments. Some are infested with mice.
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By Rebecca Tan
July 28 at 2:49 PM

In a now-viral tweetstorm on Saturday, President Trump characterized Rep. Elijah E. Cummings’s Baltimore-based congressional district as a “rodent infested mess” where “no human” would want to live.

His criticism rang with a particular irony in Baltimore County, where presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner owns more than a dozen apartment complexes that have been cited for hundreds of code violations and, critics say, provide substandard housing to lower-income tenants.

In an interview Saturday, Baltimore County Executive John A. Olszewski Jr. condemned Trump’s comments as “an attack on basic decency.”

“It is certainly ironic that the president’s own son-in-law was complicit in contributing to some of the neglect that the president purports to be so concerned about,” Olszewski (D) added.

Kushner Cos., which started operating in Maryland in 2013, has owned almost 9,000 rental units across 17 complexes, many of them in Baltimore County, the Baltimore Sun reported earlier this year.


The properties generate at least $90 million in annual revenue. Kushner stepped down as chief executive of the company in 2017, when he became a senior White House adviser.

A company representative did not address questions Sunday about whether the group agreed with Trump’s characterization of the area, but wrote: “Kushner Companies is proud to own thousands of apartments in the Baltimore area.”

In 2017, Baltimore County officials revealed that apartments owned by the Kushner firm were responsible for more than 200 code violations, all accrued in the span of the calendar year. Repairs were made only after the county threatened fines, local officials said, and even after warnings, violations on nine properties were not addressed, resulting in monetary sanctions.

In an investigation by the New York Times and Pro Publica published earlier that year, tenants of Kushner properties reported mouse infestations, mold problems and maggots. A private investigator who looked into Kushner’s property management company, Westminster Management, described the managers as “slumlords.”

Christine Taylor, a spokeswoman for the Kushner firm, asserted at the time that the group was in compliance with all state and local laws. Then-Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz said that was “a stretch of truth.”

“We expect all landlords to comply with the code requirements that protect the health and safety of their tenants, even if the landlord’s father-in-law is president of the United States,” added Kamenetz, who died in 2018.

Shannon Darrow, a program manager at the tenant advocacy group Fair Housing Action Center of Maryland, said Sunday that she was “appalled” by Trump’s comments about Cummings’s district, which includes about half of Baltimore City, and most of the majority-black sections of Baltimore County. She added that she found Trump’s attacks ironic given the legacy of Kushner’s properties in the district.


“Basically, [Kushner] has been creating a race to the bottom in terms of poorly maintained properties,” she said. “He’s been very, very deeply implicated.”

In the past two years, the Kushner firm and its affiliated entities have been sued multiple times by Baltimore-area residents who allege that the company has charged them excessive fees and used the threat of eviction to pressure them into paying.

From 2013 to 2017, corporate entities associated with Kushner apartments requested the civil arrest of 105 former tenants — the highest number among all property managers in Maryland during that period, the Sun reported.

“It’s been our recent experience that working families have been preyed on at the benefit of Mr. Kushner and his company,” Olszewski said.

A group of tenants recently attempted to file a class-action lawsuit alleging unlawful rental practices by the company. Their request was denied by a Baltimore Circuit Court judge.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local...=.6b0fd5306eba

Trump tells black critic to clean up 'disgusting, rat and rodent infested' district

Jared Kushner's troubled Baltimore housing projects could be the 'disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess' Trump tweeted about

Ellen Cranley 5m


Jared Kushner. Alex Wong/Getty Images

• President Donald Trump took aim at living conditions in Baltimore twice in two days, despite his son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner's stake in some of the city's most troubled housing complexes.
• Kushner currently holds ownership of several Baltimore-area housing projects that have been so embroiled in housing violations and mismanagement that Kushner has been called a "slumlord."
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

President Donald Trump took aim at living conditions in Baltimore twice in two days, despite his son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner's stake in some of the city's most troubled housing complexes.

Trump attacked Rep. Elijah Cummings and his Baltimore district on Twitter, seemingly echoing comments on a "Fox & Friends" episode that compared the city of Baltimore to the conditions in detention centers at the southern US border, calling the city a "disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess"

Donald J. Trump

✔@realDonaldTrump

· Jul 27, 2019

Rep, Elijah Cummings has been a brutal bully, shouting and screaming at the great men & women of Border Patrol about conditions at the Southern Border, when actually his Baltimore district is FAR WORSE and more dangerous. His district is considered the Worst in the USA......

Donald J. Trump

✔@realDonaldTrump

....As proven last week during a Congressional tour, the Border is clean, efficient & well run, just very crowded. Cumming District is a disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess. If he spent more time in Baltimore, maybe he could help clean up this very dangerous & filthy place

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4:14 AM - Jul 27, 2019
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Trump also tweeted "Why is so much money sent to the Elijah Cummings district when it is considered the worst run and most dangerous anywhere in the United States. No human being would want to live there. Where is all this money going? How much is stolen? Investigate this corrupt mess immediately!"

Donald J. Trump

✔@realDonaldTrump


Why is so much money sent to the Elijah Cummings district when it is considered the worst run and most dangerous anywhere in the United States. No human being would want to live there. Where is all this money going? How much is stolen? Investigate this corrupt mess immediately!

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4:24 AM - Jul 27, 2019
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Read more: Trump attacks Rep. Elijah Cummings and Baltimore, seemingly quoting 'Fox & Friends' segment: 'No human being would want to live there'

Kushner himself has continued ownership of several Baltimore-area housing projects that have been so embroiled in housing violations and mismanagement that Kushner has been called a "slumlord."

A 2017 investigation by ProPublica and The New York Times called "The Beleaguered Tenants of Kushnerville" detailed how the shadowy company functions and the poor living conditions that plagued residents in complexes bought under Kushner's oversight.

The investigation reported decrepit conditions including leaking ceilings, maggots in living room carpet, and raw human sewage coming from a kitchen sink. The report also includes mention of multiple retaliatory lawsuits against tenants who tried to move out.

Residents said in lawsuits they noticed near-constant but largely unexplained fees that would ultimately end up aiding their eviction if they weren't paid.

The cases are currently ongoing, as the Kushner Cos. switched the suit to state court after a federal judge ordered the company to reveal the identity of mysterious company investors.

Whether Trump is aware of the complexes where it seems "no human being would want to live" or not, the housing troubles tied to Kushner haven't gone unnoticed by the city.

Baltimore County officials took notice of Kushner's powerful status while announcing in 2017 that he was to be fined for more than 200 code violations in apartments owned by Kushner Cos.

"We expect all landlords to comply with the code requirements that protect the health and safety of their tenants," county officials said in a statement at the time, "even if the landlord's father-in-law is President of the United States."

https://www.businessinsider.com/jare...rojects-2019-7

Maryland AG sues Kushner apartment company, alleging thousands of violations

Trump tells black critic to clean up 'disgusting, rat and rodent infested' district

https://www.alipac.us/f12/trump-tells-black-critic-clean-up-disgusting-rat-rodent-infested-district-374628/