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Berkshire broker, landlord defrauded renters out of security deposits: lawsuit
Northbrook tenants say they were also assessed thousands of dollars in phony damage claims
Renters of a Northbrook home are suing its owners, the building’s brokerage and one of the agents, claiming all three schemed to defraud them out of their security deposits. Instead, they were assessed thousands of dollars in phony damage claims..
Four people who rented the home at different times since 2010 claim that when their leases expired, the property owners refused to return the security deposits. Instead, the owners claimed the renters owed tends of thousands of dollars for damages, according to the lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court. The plaintiffs are asking for $150,000 each.
Erica Swerdlow rented the home from 2010 to 2015, and had put down a $2,800 security deposit when signing the first lease, according to the suit. But when she left, homeowners Tariel and Alexander Osetinski refused return the money, instead telling Swerdlow she was on the hook for $23,000 in damages. Efforts to reach the Osetinskis were unsuccessful.
Broker Krystyna Kaczor of Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Koenig Rubloff Realty Group acted together with the property owners to “knowingly” defraud the tenants, the suit alleges. Kaczor has represented the homeowners in the leasing process since 2010.
Berkshire Hathaway is also listed as a defendant in the lawsuit. Neither Kaczor nor a representative for the brokerage returned requests for comment.
Swerdlow, meanwhile, claims she left the home in good condition and even made improvements to the property, according to the suit.
The homeowners never showed proof of the damages and never took further action to recoup the funds they demanded, according to the suit. Instead, they presented false damages to their tenants “so that plaintiffs would give up or forget the return of their security deposits.”
This same alleged scheme was carried out with two other renters who occupied the house at separate times after Swerdlow, the suit alleges.
Both of those renters were told to pay a $5,600 deposit. One renter was told they were responsible for $80,000 in damages; the other had to fork over $42,000 in needed repairs.