Astoria landlord in deep doo-doo

From DNA Info:

A Queens landlord was indicted Monday for stealing tens of thousands of dollars from prospective tenants for rent on apartments that were deemed uninhabitable after the space was illegally converted into a nine-family building, according to the Queens District Attorney's office.

Hinyoung Limtung, 55, is facing charges for allegedly pocketing $44,050 from would-be renters for apartments at 31-70 Crescent St., near Broadway, in Astoria — despite the fact that a vacate order had been issued at the property for unsafe and illegal conditions.

According to the Queens DA, the Department of Buildings had issued the vacate order in December of 2012 after an inspection found the two-family building had been illegally converted into a five-family building, and that the first and second floors had no sprinkler system and no secondary means of egress.

A second inspection of the building in February of 2013 found tenants still living at site, despite the vacate order, and that the property had been illegally converted again, this time into a nine-family dwelling, the Queens DA said.

Officials say Limtung collected rent from 10 prospective tenants between December 2012 and April 2013, despite the vacate order.

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Suit against scamming tenant thrown out on technicality

From Curbed:

Even after her landlord hired a private investigator to out her illegal short term rental activities, a resident of 250 Elizabeth Street has managed to avoid getting evicted. Why? Because of a technicality. Before all the Airbnb drama, landlord Ken Podziba actually filed a separate lawsuit against tenant Amy Parness back in 2011 over unauthorized alterations made to her $1,400/month rent-stabilized apartment. And, in housing court, it's not possible to pursue two cases against the same defendant at the same time.

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Astoria scammer in the slammer

From the Queens Courier:

An Astoria landlord has been charged with taking thousands of dollars from potential tenants after posting a Craigslist listing for an apartment and room at his home that were never vacant.

According to a criminal complaint, Mario Lalicata, also known as Mario Lamagra, posted a rental listing on Craigslist for a basement apartment or room at his 48th Street home in Astoria. Between March 23 and August 13, Lalicata allegedly took security deposits ranging from $500 to $2,000 from prospective tenants and collected first month’s rent in two cases. Afterwards, as the move-in dates got closer, Lalicata allegedly suspended the moves after making up numerous excuses. When the tenants tried asking for their money back, the landlord allegedly promised to return the money or said the money was being used for repairs. Lalicata allegedly then stopped answering and returning the tenants’ calls.

On August 13, Lalicata was arraigned on a 22-count criminal complaint with ten counts of fourth-degree grand larceny, two counts of first-degree scheme to defraud and ten counts of petit larceny.

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