Baltimore area Kushner real estate must disclose investors

Who is investing in Jared Kushner's Baltimore real estate?

Judge says the Kushner Company Must Reveal Identities of Real Estate Partners ~ By Alec MacGillis

The ruling comes in a class-action lawsuit filed by tenants of Kushner-managed apartment complexes in the Baltimore area.

The lawsuit was filed in Baltimore Circuit Court Wednesday morning by two plaintiffs:  Tenae Smith, who lives in the Dutch Village apartments in Northeast Baltimore, and Howard Smith, (not related) who lives in the Carroll Park apartments in Middle River.

Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner's local real estate ties

A federal judge in Maryland ruled Friday that Jared Kushner’s family real estate company could not keep secret the identities of its partners in Baltimore-area apartment complexes that are the subject of a class-action lawsuit by tenants.

The class-action lawsuit was filed in September, following a May article co-published by ProPublica and The New York Times Magazine that described how Kushner Companies have used highly aggressive tactics in pursuing payments from tenants and former tenants of 15 large apartment complexes it owns and manages in the Baltimore area.

Jared Kushner's real estate firm seeks the arrest of tenants to collect rent

The lawsuit, filed in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, alleges that the Kushner Companies’ real estate management arm and related corporate entities have been improperly inflating payments owned by tenants by charging them late fees that are often baseless and in excess of state limits and court fees that are not actually approved by any court. The suit alleges that the late fees and court fees set in motion a vicious cycle in which rent payments are partly put toward the fees instead of the actual rent owed, thus deeming the tenant once again “late” on his or her rent payment, leading to yet more late fees and court fees. Tenants are pressured to pay the snowballing bills with immediate threat of eviction, the suit alleges.

Kushner Companies and its co-defendants sought to have the case transferred from state court to federal court, which would spare it from having to face an all-Baltimore City jury. 

To have this transfer approved, the defendants needed to show that none of their ownership partners were residents of Maryland. The defendants requested that their submission of the list of partners be sealed from public view, citing the high degree of media interest in Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and senior White House adviser.

“Given the tenor of the media’s reporting of this case, including politically-motivated innuendo no doubt intended to disparage the First Family, there is foreseeable risk of prejudice to the privacy rights and reputations of innocent private investors,” wrote Westminster Management, Kushner Companies’ real estate management arm, in a court filing in November.

This request to seal the partners’ identities was challenged several weeks later in a joint filing by ProPublica, the Baltimore Sun, the Washington Post, the Associated Press, and Baltimore TV station WMAR-TV. They argued that the press had a “presumptive right” to view court documents, and that the Kushner Companies had not identified the “compelling government interest” that is required to block public access.

In his ruling Friday, U.S. District Court Judge James K. Bredar stated that the high level of public interest in Kushner and his business associates if anything enhanced the case for maintaining access to the identities of the defendants in the case.

“The Defendants are no doubt correct that the presence of the Kushner (and therefore Trump) families in this case has raised its profile and attracted significant, though perhaps not ‘unprecedented,’ media attention,” Bedar wrote. “But increased public interest in a case does not, by itself, overcome the presumption of access. In fact, it would logically strengthen it, particularly when the interest is due to the presence of important public figures in the litigation. 

In such an instance, the public’s desire to evaluate the Court’s decision-making is likely augmented. And beyond this apparently inevitable media scrutiny, Defendants have largely relied on ‘vague superlatives’ and insinuations instead of demonstrating specific harms.”

Several recent news reports have given a hint of just how far-reaching the network of investors in the Maryland apartment complexes could be. The New York Times reported earlier this month that Kushner Companies last spring secured a $30 million equity investment in the Baltimore complexes and others of its holdings from Menora Mivtachim, one of Israel’s largest financial institutions, just as Jared Kushner was about to make his first official visit to Israel as President Trump’s designated broker of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. More recently, a New Yorker article describedthe Kushner Companies’ aggressive pursuit of Chinese investors in its real estate ventures.

In his ruling, Bedar gave the defendants until Feb. 9 to provide the list of their ownership partners. The Kushner Companies could opt instead to return the case to the Circuit Court in Baltimore, if the firm decides the downsides of having to disclose the investment partners in the complexes outweigh the downsides of having the case heard by a Baltimore jury.

A request for comment from Kushner Companies’ spokesman was not immediately returned Friday afternoon. A lawyer for the plaintiff tenants, Andy Freeman, said he and his colleagues on the case had not yet gotten any indication of how Kushner Companies planned to proceed.

“We’re pleased with the ruling. We don’t think that parties to federal litigation should be able to conceal their identity,” Freeman said. He added: “This is just the first step in moving toward justice for the tenants.”

Baltimore in mourning

The following is a sad and personal observation about Baltimore, published in the Baltimore Sun, by a Baptist pastor.

Baltimore Police Commissioner Kevin Davis addressing the crises caused by the city's growing homicide rate.

Although there is no single simplistic response to Pastor Hickman's cry for urban help, the fact is, it's time to "begin at the very beginning". There's no single answer to prevent homicide. 

Yet, as a native of Baltimore, I submit it's time to begin by cleaning up the city's streets. Plant trees and flowers! Grow gardens in the small back yards. Begin aggressive mentoring programs with neighborhood leaders who can provide emotional help to other neighbors. Back to basics is rooted in cleanliness and exposure to natural beauty. Obviously, I'm not an urban scientist, but as a Baltimore native, I should receive some credit for my instincts. 

In my opinion, "back to basics" is worth a try. Neighborhoods must begin to take pride in growing things, including nurturing children.

My sympathy to everyone who grieves in Baltimore.

Baltimore pastor: Here's why the city has so many murders

As Baltimore City crosses the threshold of 300 murders , we have to wonder what can be done? With so many thoughts racing through my head and emotions in my heart, I keep coming back to the same question of why this is happening? Why are our inner city communities subjected to so much violence and volatility?

Sure, it’s easy to casually observe from the outside and condemn this behavior as irrational and insensitive. But before we give in to our own subjectivism and pessimism, I suggest we pursue a more empathetic approach into the communities of enculturated poverty.

For a moment imagine being born into narcotics and alcoholism. Imagine living in public assistance housing with limited luxuries and activities. Imagine mornings without an adequate breakfast after going to bed without a decent dinner. 

Imagine subsidizing those meals with sugar, sodium and salt. Imagine waking up to mice in the home and walking down the street with rats as big as squirrels. Imagine being molested as a child or introduced to sex before your teenage years. Imagine not having enough clothes to get through a week of school. Imagine living in a neighborhood of repeat offenders. Imagine your parents on drugs, unemployed and unemployable. Imagine nowhere to go after school. Who would you be and what would you become?

As a pastor with the ability to give my children the best, it is very challenging to make sure they make the right decisions when their mother and I are not around. 

Let’s face it, our children are exposed to so much that is heinous through video games, television, YouTube and other social media. So the child that lives in deprivation can be far more desperate in his or her pursuit of the world of material wealth. And in many cases they are desperate to just survive. To survive in Baltimore requires more than a lot of inner city kids are prepared for or even have the opportunity to pursue.

As I go to the Friday football games at Edmondson-Westside High School, a school I attended in my formative years, I see the young people of today. I see the outfits, the tattoos, the hair weaves and the piercings. I hear the vulgar language and smell the marijuana and the alcohol. 

But I also see their energy, personalities and skill sets. I see their struggle and their need to be accepted and respected. I see the bubble that they live in and can’t see outside of. When I drive through the city streets I see people who have been forgotten about and who have forgotten about themselves.

So, it’s no wonder that so many of our young people find a life in the streets. The streets offer more hope than the “system.” Drugs buy good food and great feelings. Gangs show love and protection. Living on the run from the police beats living in a trap of poverty and victimization. These kids have little to no opportunity. And when you have been forced to live with nothing and nobody, then nobody and nothing matters. Thus, 300 murders!

And the murders will continue to happen until we as a city are determined to bring life back into our neighborhoods. We have to build Port Covington and bring Amazon and other corporations like it to our city. But, we also have to rebuild our neighborhoods by restoring people and rebuilding properties. After another year of over 300 murders we have a mandate to invest in the human and physical capital of our inner city communities. And it will take intentionality, creativity and unique partnerships to revitalize our city and its residents.

We cannot give in to this subculture that disenfranchisement, disinterest and disinvestment have created. We have to realize that the murders didn’t start in the streets, but they started in our systems of education, incarceration and the economy. 

Let’s stop the killing by starting the kind of processes and programs that make revitalization possible. I see a clear path to better days for our city. Let’s lead the transformation for cities across this great nation.

Donte' L. Hickman is pastor of Southern Baptist Church in Baltimore City, Harford and Howard counties. His email is pastorhickman@me.com.

My sincere sympathy to my Baltimore family, friends and the grieving Police Department.