Law Firm Who Served Eviction Notices to King’s Students Has Dubious History
Albee Apartment Building | Photo Courtesy of The King’s College
The opinions reflected in this OpEd are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of staff, faculty and students of The King's College.
(OPINION) At this point, many students at The King’s College are aware of the multiple overdue rent notices and the service of an eviction threat from a debt collector to student residents. The story recently received city-wide coverage on NBC New York. However, many do not know about the actual debt collector Kucker Marino Winarsky & Bittens.
Management at 436 Albee Square West employed this law firm to distribute the overdue rent notices. The multi-million dollar firm describes itself as “a highly respected Manhattan law firm” focusing on real estate and corporate law. Still, I can’t help but wonder: how respected can Kucker be when the New York Attorney General investigated them two separate times?
In June 2020, New York investigators discovered that Kucker sent collectors to serve 54 eviction notices to tenants during the COVID-19 lockdown when New York State banned all evictions. Kucker told the real estate news site “The Real Deal” that these eviction notices “needed to be served” in order to process eviction filings in a timely manner after the ban ended.
This is an incredibly weak excuse considering that the notices failed to mention the eviction ban. Not only that, but the notices demanded tenants either pay their rent, leave or appear in court. The last “option” was impossible since housing courts weren’t even fully open at the time. This investigation led to a settlement on June 30. Kucker agreed to stop engaging in any “deceptive or fraudulent rent or debt notices” going forward.
Despite this, it appears Kucker wanted a sequel. In July 2021, they sent damaging legal advice to 263 Bronx housing tenants seeking rent stabilization. These Bronx tenants lacked representation from an attorney, just like King’s residents at Albee (though the college itself does employ a legal team).
In the following press release, the Office of the Attorney General ordered Kucker to “establish a range of practices and procedures that will ensure compliance with the law going forward. Within 60 days of signing the agreement, all Kucker attorneys and paralegals must attend a training that will cover their obligations under the New York Rules of Professional Conduct…”
Regarding the issuing of eviction notices at King’s, I called Kucker to get some clarification.
The woman I was referred to confirmed that the person who served the notices did work for Kucker, although she refused to give me his name. The notices clearly display the law firm’s signature, and the letters from the firm display its logo.
“We are required to serve the units for evictions,” she said.
“But you know the business address of The King’s College? And presumably, you have the addresses of their attorneys?”
“We have the contact information of The King’s College.”
“Why did you serve notices at Albee, then?”
“By New York State Law, we are required to serve the units.”
“Really? What law is that?”
“By New York State Law, we are required to serve the units directly,” she repeated.
“Are you aware that your processor demanded the names and ages of students? Why does Kucker Marino need that information?”
No response. The call ended shortly after.
The building landlord provided some additional insight into the current rent situation.
“When the processor comes to deliver [documents] to the office, any secretary that takes it over gives their name,” he explained in an interview with the Empire State Tribune. “That doesn’t mean they are in any way involved. It’s just that if it gets to court I can’t come saying ‘hey, we never got it,’ ‘cause they could say ‘we gave it to Mr. X,’ so the information that he was given has no legal involvement.”
In sum, asking for personal information from the occupants of the units helps all parties confirm that the eviction notice was received. If that’s the case, then why wasn’t I told that by the actual law firm? Furthermore, why did the processor rudely demand the information from uncomfortable students if it served such a benign, clerical function?
A simple Google search of Kucker Marino’s other cases shows similarly dubious legal tactics. In March 2022, Kucker restrained the bank account of a woman named Fariba Nabatian after Nabatian’s attorney fell ill. According to this attorney, she informed Kucker of the medical issue and requested an extension, but the message was “not received” and Kucker pursued legal action anyway. The motion for summary judgment was denied.
In January 2023, Kucker pursued legal action against a business proprietor named Sebastian Perez for unpaid legal fees despite the fact that Perez never received or even signed a retainer. Kucker’s motion for summary judgment was denied again, and Judge Verna Saunders dismissed the claim made against Perez altogether.
Fortunately, it appears that King’s has received bridge funding to finish the semester and has promised to begin paying the outstanding rent due on Albee apartments. Hopefully, the Attorney General’s Office won’t investigate Kucker for a third time.
Evan Louey-Dacus is a senior studying Politics, Philosophy, and Economics. He attended Oxford as a summer student and currently works in research and business strategy. Evan is the President of the King's Debate Society and the Opinion Editor and Food Columnist at the Empire State Tribune.