Steve Croman’s former tenants can start applying for restitution as part of an $8 million settlement agreement reached last year.
In December, Croman agreed to pay a record $8 million to tenants he harassed. Attorney General Barbara Underwood announced on Tuesday that current and former tenants could start applying for a cut of the restitution, Crain’s reported.
To be eligible, tenants must have lived in a Croman-owned, rent-regulated apartment between July 1, 2011, and Dec. 20, 2017, and have taken a buyout of $20,000 or less.
The attorney general’s office filed a civil complaint against Croman in 2016, accusing the landlord of harassing rent-regulated tenants. He agreed to pay a record sum to settle the claims.
The office also filed a criminal complaint against him alleging that he inflated rent rolls in order to secure larger mortgages for his properties. In October he was sentenced to one year in jail but was released eight months later. As part of the consent decree, a third-party manager will oversee 100 of his properties for five years. [Crain’s] — Kathryn Brenzel