Early on in his first run for the US Presidency, Donald Trump claimed he was the champion of those who have no voice. He was referring to America's working class, most of whom have minimal education and low-paying jobs and therefore live paycheck to paycheck. This documentary is basically about how a family business closely associated with the Trump's, the Kushner's, actually deal with working class people in real life. To offer the connection, Donald Trump's daughter, Ivanka, is married to Jared Kushner who ran Kushner Companies LLC from 2005 to 2017, after taking over from his father in 2005 when the latter was convicted of tax evasion and witness tampering. He stepped down from day-to-day operations in early 2017 when Trump became president.
Kushner Companies owns many middle class apartments in New York, New Jersey, and Maryland. NY is rent controlled, so they do things like harass long-term tenants hoping they'll vacate their apartments so they can fill them with renters who will have to pay higher rents. While their tactics in NY are certainly unethical, in Maryland, their tactics were and are unconscionable. They target former renters, some of whom vacated apartments before the Kushner's ever bought them, claiming they are owed back rent. They have also been cited for violating housing codes by not maintaining basic upkeep. So why are they doing this?
In the early 2000's, Kushner Companies decided they wanted to be major players in Lower Manhattan real estate. Similar to Donald Trump, they wanted to be participants in the "big boys club" of the NY elite. In the mid-2000's, NY business was booming, and there were few commercial buildings for sale. The one building whose owners were willing to sell was an office complex built in the 1950's with the rather interesting address of 666 5th Avenue, NY, NY. The asking price: $1.8 billion which was probably way overpriced. But the Kushner's were desperate to get a foothold in lower Manhattan and they took the deal in 2007, then the highest price ever paid for real estate in NY up until that time.
And there was a reason the deal broke real estate records: it basically nearly broke the Kushner's. If you remember your history, shortly thereafter in 2008, the Great Recession hit. Obviously the Kushner's didn't pay cash for the property but probably received nearly $1.8 billion in loans. They were hemorrhaging tens of millions a year. The intention was to rent office space on 5th Ave but they couldn't get enough tenants to offset the loans for the original building.
Basically, the Kushner's made a terrible decision in an NY Monopoly game where they mortgaged all their properties to buy Park Place and Boardwalk and then had to mortgage those properties too. The Kushner's needed quick money from their real estate investments. So they start finding ways to stick it to their existing renters. Two techniques were used in places like Maryland where tenants were forced to pay extra fees for late payments, fees which escalate. They also made bogus claims on former renters, claiming they owed for past rent even when they didn't. If a former renter couldn't find the appropriate paperwork, they were slapped with lawsuits through law firm sharks.
For NY their techniques were equally as slimy but essentially altogether different. In places like suburban Maryland, landlords need tenants. But in NY, it's a seller's market. But there's a catch: NY is rent-controlled, so you can't force a tenant who's paying $1000 to $1500/month to pay suddenly $4000 to $5000/month. The only way a landlord can receive exponentially more money for a unit is by getting a new tenant. So, to drive out existing tenants, make the living conditions unbearable. Tenants reported things like 2:00am construction and negligence in terms of upkeep.
Some people who reviewed this documentary have said that the doc implies that no one else but the Kushner's have ever engaged in these practices, and that the doc is one-sided. For one thing, the filmmakers invited the Kushner's to be interviewed and they all declined. On the other hand, whether or not other property management and holding companies have engaged in unethical if not illegal business practices has nothing to do with the price of tea in China. In other words, it's ultimately irrelevant. That would be like saying a doc about someone who committed burglary is unfair because other people have committed burglary!
That said, I think the main point is that owners of property holding companies who have engaged in unethical and illegal business practices have a father-in-law who happens to be President of the US! This idea that somehow the Trump's and the Kushner's were going to look out for "the little guy" is beyond ludicrous. The Kushner's and the Trump's rarely did anything for anyone outside their own families. It appears the Kushner's were big donors to the Clinton's in the 1990's. Interestingly, because they supported a Democrat governor in New Jersey, it appears they were allowed to slide from their responsibilities for a time. In an ironic twist, the first person to go after the Kushner's in the early 2000's was an upstart district attorney name of Chris Christie. Remember him?
Kushner Companies owns many middle class apartments in New York, New Jersey, and Maryland. NY is rent controlled, so they do things like harass long-term tenants hoping they'll vacate their apartments so they can fill them with renters who will have to pay higher rents. While their tactics in NY are certainly unethical, in Maryland, their tactics were and are unconscionable. They target former renters, some of whom vacated apartments before the Kushner's ever bought them, claiming they are owed back rent. They have also been cited for violating housing codes by not maintaining basic upkeep. So why are they doing this?
In the early 2000's, Kushner Companies decided they wanted to be major players in Lower Manhattan real estate. Similar to Donald Trump, they wanted to be participants in the "big boys club" of the NY elite. In the mid-2000's, NY business was booming, and there were few commercial buildings for sale. The one building whose owners were willing to sell was an office complex built in the 1950's with the rather interesting address of 666 5th Avenue, NY, NY. The asking price: $1.8 billion which was probably way overpriced. But the Kushner's were desperate to get a foothold in lower Manhattan and they took the deal in 2007, then the highest price ever paid for real estate in NY up until that time.
And there was a reason the deal broke real estate records: it basically nearly broke the Kushner's. If you remember your history, shortly thereafter in 2008, the Great Recession hit. Obviously the Kushner's didn't pay cash for the property but probably received nearly $1.8 billion in loans. They were hemorrhaging tens of millions a year. The intention was to rent office space on 5th Ave but they couldn't get enough tenants to offset the loans for the original building.
Basically, the Kushner's made a terrible decision in an NY Monopoly game where they mortgaged all their properties to buy Park Place and Boardwalk and then had to mortgage those properties too. The Kushner's needed quick money from their real estate investments. So they start finding ways to stick it to their existing renters. Two techniques were used in places like Maryland where tenants were forced to pay extra fees for late payments, fees which escalate. They also made bogus claims on former renters, claiming they owed for past rent even when they didn't. If a former renter couldn't find the appropriate paperwork, they were slapped with lawsuits through law firm sharks.
For NY their techniques were equally as slimy but essentially altogether different. In places like suburban Maryland, landlords need tenants. But in NY, it's a seller's market. But there's a catch: NY is rent-controlled, so you can't force a tenant who's paying $1000 to $1500/month to pay suddenly $4000 to $5000/month. The only way a landlord can receive exponentially more money for a unit is by getting a new tenant. So, to drive out existing tenants, make the living conditions unbearable. Tenants reported things like 2:00am construction and negligence in terms of upkeep.
Some people who reviewed this documentary have said that the doc implies that no one else but the Kushner's have ever engaged in these practices, and that the doc is one-sided. For one thing, the filmmakers invited the Kushner's to be interviewed and they all declined. On the other hand, whether or not other property management and holding companies have engaged in unethical if not illegal business practices has nothing to do with the price of tea in China. In other words, it's ultimately irrelevant. That would be like saying a doc about someone who committed burglary is unfair because other people have committed burglary!
That said, I think the main point is that owners of property holding companies who have engaged in unethical and illegal business practices have a father-in-law who happens to be President of the US! This idea that somehow the Trump's and the Kushner's were going to look out for "the little guy" is beyond ludicrous. The Kushner's and the Trump's rarely did anything for anyone outside their own families. It appears the Kushner's were big donors to the Clinton's in the 1990's. Interestingly, because they supported a Democrat governor in New Jersey, it appears they were allowed to slide from their responsibilities for a time. In an ironic twist, the first person to go after the Kushner's in the early 2000's was an upstart district attorney name of Chris Christie. Remember him?