Landlord Complaints

Your request FOIL-2019-032-00071 has been successfully submitted to the Department of Investigation (DOI). The details of your request are shown below.

Request Title: Landlord Complaints

Request Description: To Whom It May Concern:Pursuant to the New York Freedom of Information Law, I hereby request the following records:- All tenant or landlord fraud complaints (see: https://www1.nyc.gov/nyc-resources/service/2349/public-housing-or-nycha-section-8-fraud) received from January 1st, 2014 to this date.I was referred to your office in response to an earlier request to NYCHA: https://www.muckrock.com/foi/new-york-city-17/landlord-complaints-72915/#comm-723646The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 5 business days, as the statute requires.Sincerely,JPat BrownUpload documents directly: https://https://www.muckrock.comhttps://accounts.muckrock.com/accounts/login/?url_auth_token=AAAVieFzOW1qSvT8UKVrW6QDD4M%3A1hW556%3A6ebhRobtz5HOTWTU8vZsKGXopLI&next=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.muckrock.com%2Faccounts%2Flogin%2F%3Fnext%3D%252Faccounts%252Fagency_login%252Fdepartment-of-investigation-9779%252Flandlord-complaints-73807%252F%253Femail%253D%252522NYC.gov%252522%252B%25253Cnoreply%252540nyc.gov%25253E


Requester's Contact Information



Name:
Jpat Brown

Title:
Not provided

Organization:
Not provided

Email:
requests@muckrock.com (mailto:requests@muckrock.com)

Phone Number:
Not provided

Fax Number:
Not provided

Street Address (line 1):
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Street Address (line 2):
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City:
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State:
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Zip Code:
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Mr. Brown:

I’ll go ahead and acknowledge your request through the portal, but I was hoping to discuss your request given that your request is not easily searchable in DOI’s system (which is indexed by subject name [individual or corporate], address, social security number, etc.). I may know of a few ways to get you what you’re looking for. My number is below. I’m in the office for another twenty minutes or so today and will be available tomorrow after 10am.

Sincerely,

Christopher Tellet
Assistant General Counsel
New York City Department of Investigation
80 Maiden Lane
New York, NY 10038
(212) 806-5240

The Department of Investigation (DOI) has acknowledged your FOIL request FOIL-2019-032-00071. (https://a860-openrecords.nyc.gov/request/view/FOIL-2019-032-00071)
You can expect a response on or about Wednesday, July 3, 2019.

Please visit FOIL-2019-032-00071 to view additional information and take any necessary action. (https://a860-openrecords.nyc.gov/request/view/FOIL-2019-032-00071)
Request Information:
Request Title: Landlord Complaints
Request Description: To Whom It May Concern:Pursuant to the New York Freedom of Information Law, I hereby request the following records:- All tenant or landlord fraud complaints (see: https://www1.nyc.gov/nyc-resources/service/2349/public-housing-or-nycha-section-8-fraud) received from January 1st, 2014 to this date.I was referred to your office in response to an earlier request to NYCHA: https://www.muckrock.com/foi/new-york-city-17/landlord-complaints-72915/#comm-723646The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 5 business days, as the statute requires.Sincerely,JPat BrownUpload documents directly: https://https://www.muckrock.comhttps://accounts.muckrock.com/accounts/login/?url_auth_token=AAAVieFzOW1qSvT8UKVrW6QDD4M%3A1hW556%3A6ebhRobtz5HOTWTU8vZsKGXopLI&next=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.muckrock.com%2Faccounts%2Flogin%2F%3Fnext%3D%252Faccounts%252Fagency_login%252Fdepartment-of-investigation-9779%252Flandlord-complaints-73807%252F%253Femail%253D%252522NYC.gov%252522%252B%25253Cnoreply%252540nyc.gov%25253E

Mr. Brown:

I have dug out of my email pile and am at my desk for the foreseeable future if you'd like to give me a ring to discuss your request.

In the alternative, I could call you at a more convenient time.

Sincerely,

Christopher Tellet
Assistant General Counsel
New York City Department of Investigation
80 Maiden Lane
New York, NY 10038
(212) 806-5240

Mr. Brown:

I wanted to touch base on your request. I think we should have that chat given that I believe your request could cover records in the hundreds, maybe thousands, and I want to nail down a definition of fraud since our system is generally indexed along the lines of Subject Name, Address, SSN, etc., with some limited capability to search by allegation type.

Sincerely,

Christopher Tellet
Assistant General Counsel
New York City Department of Investigation
80 Maiden Lane
New York, NY 10038
(212) 806-5240

The Department of Investigation (DOI) has extended the time to respond to your FOIL request FOIL-2019-032-00071 for the following reasons: (https://a860-openrecords.nyc.gov/request/view/FOIL-2019-032-00071)

You can expect a response on or about Thursday, August 1, 2019.

Mr. Brown: I have been trying to reach you by email regarding your request, including an email Thursday (6/27/2019) which I will reproduce below: Mr. Brown: I wanted to touch base on your request. I think we should have that chat given that I believe your request could cover records in the hundreds, maybe thousands, and I want to nail down a definition of fraud since our system is generally indexed along the lines of Subject Name, Address, SSN, etc., with some limited capability to search by allegation type. Sincerely, Christopher Tellet
Assistant General Counsel
New York City Department of Investigation
80 Maiden Lane New York, NY 10038
(212) 806-5240

Mr. Brown:

Please mostly ignore the language cited about, it's auto-generated.

I last reached out on June 27, 2019 (and prior to that on June 12, 2019). The gist was to let you know that your request covers hundreds (probably thousands) of records, and that our system is generally indexed along the lines of Subject Name, Address, SSN, etc., with some limited capability to search by allegation type. If you are still seeking these records, I'd be happy to work with you to figure out the best means of getting the information you seek. Please feel free to contact me at ctellet@doi.nyc.gov or (212) 806-5240.

Sincerely,
Christopher Tellet
Records Access Officer

Request Information:

Request Title: Landlord Complaints

Request Description: To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the New York Freedom of Information Law, I hereby request the following records:- All tenant or landlord fraud complaints (see: https://www1.nyc.gov/nyc-resources/service/2349/public-housing-or-nycha-section-8-fraud) received from January 1st, 2014 to this date.I was referred to your office in response to an earlier request to NYCHA: https://www.muckrock.com/foi/new-york-city-17/landlord-complaints-72915/#comm-723646The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 5 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
JPat Brown
Upload documents directly: https://https://www.muckrock.comhttps://accounts.muckrock.com/accounts/login/?url_auth_token=AAAVieFzOW1qSvT8UKVrW6QDD4M%3A1hW556%3A6ebhRobtz5HOTWTU8vZsKGXopLI&next=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.muckrock.com%2Faccounts%2Flogin%2F%3Fnext%3D%252Faccounts%252Fagency_login%252Fdepartment-of-investigation-9779%252Flandlord-complaints-73807%252F%253Femail%253D%252522NYC.gov%252522%252B%25253Cnoreply%252540nyc.gov%25253E

Now I have actually copied Amy Young.

Mr. Brown:

Pardon the delay in response, we just moved office buildings so things have been a bit chaotic.

So I had two reasons to have that conversation I talked about in the long-long-ago:

(1) I don’t know the full universe of the request because there are different kinds of “fraud.” My ability to search based on allegation type is limited because the system only captures the “top allegation” of any given complaint. I had the IT folks run a query, and it looks like there are a couple flavors of “fraud.” I’ve pasted those results below, since I’m not sure which flavor you favor.

(2) DOI does not produce complaints pursuant to FOIL requests (primarily for privacy and confidentiality reasons) but we do make what we call “closing memos” available, provided that the allegations have been investigated and substantiated. Closing memos are capstone records produced by agency investigators summarizing the complaint, any agency action taken, and the final disposition.

If you’re looking for metrics, like how many “fraud” complaints we receive, I can try to figure out if there’s a responsive record that captures that information and get back to you. If your interest is more content based, I’d direct you to closing memos.

In terms of procedural posture here, your request was closed earlier this month, but I figure this correspondence categorizes the request as “re-opened.”

As a final note, I’ll be on parental leave starting tomorrow (8/30/2019) and will be out for a few months. I’ve copied Amy Young, the other attorney here who handles FOIL requests.

I hope that helps!

As stated above, here are the “top allegations” that I was able to query:

TIME ABUSE

FALSE FILING

FALSIFYING DOCUMENTS

FRAUD

CONFLICT OF INTERESTS

MISREPRESENTATION

EMPLOYEE MISCONDUCT

UNAUTHORIZED TENANT [SECTION 8]

UNAUTHORIZED TENANT [CONVENTIONAL]

PROGRAM FRAUD

PREVAILING WAGE VIOLATION

CONTRACTUAL ISSUE

UNREPORTED INCOME [SECTION 8]

THEFT

MISCONDUCT

UNREPORTED INCOME [CONVENTIONAL]

FALSE CLAIMS

NEGLECT OF DUTY

BID FRAUD

PROCUREMENT MISMANAGEMENT

WELFARE FRAUD

VIOLATION OF DEPT. RULES

FORGERY

LANDLORD FRAUD

THEFT OF PROPERTY

VENDOR CONTRACTOR FRAUD

OTHER

DRUG USE/SALE

DRUG SALE

FALSE FILINGS

VENDEX FRAUD

FRAUDULENT DEALINGS

TAX EVASION

EXTORTION

WARRANT EXECUTION

CHECK FRAUD

REAL PROPERTY FRAUD

FALSE DOCUMENTS

SEXUAL ABUSE

POLICE NOTIFICATION

MISCONDUCT BY STAFF

THREATS

NARCOTICS

TIME ABUSE

BRIBERY

INSPECTIONAL IRREGULARITIES

COLLUSIVE BIDDING

LARCENY AND MONEY THEFT

IDENTITY THEFT

SECTION 8 FRAUD

COMPUTER CRIMES

SAFETY

MISUSE OF VEHICLE

LEASE INVESTIGATION

SECURITY BREACH

BURGLARY

SERVICE COMPLAINT

HARASSMENT

ANY OTHER ALLEGATION

FALSE MEDICAL DOCUMENTS

CORRUPT MISCONDUCT

HOMICIDE

INSURANCE FRAUD

POOR PERFORMANCE

EXAM FRAUD

WHISTLEBLOWER

SUBSTITUTION OF MATERIALS

DUAL EMPLOYMENT

RUDENESS