Abusive Landlord Gets Prison Reprieve For High Holidays

Image by Google Maps

By Josh Nathan-Kazis September 20, 2017

A Jewish landlord awaiting sentencing for mortgage and tax fraud was given a reprieve until after the High Holidays, the Daily News reported.

Steve Croman, who pled guilty to the felony charges in June, also faces civil charges brought by the office of New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman alleging that he harassed and threatened rent stabilized tenants in buildings he owned, hoping to push them out so he could bring in market-rate renters.

“It’s outrageous because we spend so many holidays with no heat, no water. No gas service. You name it,” Croman tenant Cynthia Chaffee told the Daily News.

Croman has already paid $3 million of the $5 million he owes in restitution for the mortgage and tax fraud charges. He agreed to a one-year prison sentence as part of his guilty plea.

Contact Josh Nathan-Kazis at [email protected] or on Twitter, @joshnathankazis.

Josh Nathan-Kazis is a staff writer for the Forward. He covers charities and politics, and writes investigations and longform.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO