Boxer and army captain Boyd “Rainmaker” Melson claims his broker cheated him out of $8,000 in a Gramercy Park apartment deal.
Melson is accusing broker and longtime public access TV host Barry Zabusky of stringing him along for weeks and racking up fees only to rent the apartment to someone else, according to the New York Post.
Melson’s lawsuit states that he was looking to upgrade his apartment at 50 Lexington Avenue, hoping to find a bigger unit within the same building. Zabusky found him one and Melson wrote the checks for Zabusky’s $5,040 fee and a $3,500 security deposit.
Zabusky also allegedly asked for $100 in cash for a credit check, $50 for a “building credit check fee,” $450 for the management company “to process the board package,” as well as a $500 “move-in” fee, according to the Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit sited by the Post. The building manager later informed Melson that, because he already lived in the building, no move-in fee or credit checks were required.
Days before his lease ended, Melson discovered that the apartment had rented to someone else. He is now suing Zabusky for $1 million. Zabusky denies the allegations. [NYP] –Christopher Cameron