By: Ellen Cans
A woman who spent $19 million to purchase a luxury New York City condo, says she was misled in to regards to its having a full-time doorman.
As reported by the NY Post, a breach-of-contract suit was filed on Wednesday in Manhattan Supreme Court naming Corcoran Realty Group, a broker named Catherine Juracich, and the seller. The suit alleges that the single mother of three who purchased the Tribeca penthouse now feels “unsafe” after finding out there isn’t a full-time human doorkeeper. The woman’s identity remains shrouded in mystery, while the suit was filed by Kara Dille, a California accountant identified as a trustee who runs the estate. “A full-time doorman was of major importance to settlor-beneficiary,” says the suit.
The woman entered a contract in March agreeing to purchase the 5,500-square- foot apartment at 37 Warren Street for $19 million. The apartment boasts five bedrooms, seven baths, and a wraparound terrace. The boutique condo building, originally constructed in 1931, was restored in 2013 with a glass and cooper bronze façade. The suit claims that the defendants were “intentionally false and descriptive” in representing it as a doorman building, and “clearly intended to fraudulently induce plaintiff to enter into the contract to purchase.” The seven-story condo building only has a part-time doorman on weekdays and a virtual attendant on weekends. The purchaser broke the contract in August, and is now also trying to recoup the 10 percent deposit made in the amount of $1.9 million.
The lawsuit alleges that Corcoran and the agent misrepresented the penthouse in an ad it ran, which wrote that the home “offers a doorman”. The lawsuit also accuses the agents of picking times when the part-time doorman was present to show the penthouse to the mom. It also alleges that Juracich stood in front of the virtual-doorman screen in the lobby to block it from her view, as per court papers. The suit says these actions “were deliberate and devised” as a means to avoid having the buyer become suspicious or ask about “why such equipment would be inside an apartment that was served by a full-time doorman,” the suit alleges.
The seller, named in the court papers as Zoelle LLC, responded in a letter filed with the court, saying they were not responsible for any misrepresentation. “The Seller is not liable or bound in any manner by any verbal or written statements, representations, real estate broker ‘set-ups’ or information pertaining to the above premises furnished by a real estate broker nor by any agent, employee, servant or other person,” states the letter which was written by Howard M. Brickner, an attorney for the seller.
Juracich declined to comment to requests for comment made by the NY Post.
