Throwing an elderly couple out on the street might be monstrous, but it’s perfectly legal in New York State. You have to leave,’” Vivian said.įorced out: Vivian Thomas Smith had lived in her Bronx apartment for 27 years when Glacier Equities suddenly told her she had to leave. The first one said ‘cause our apartment was not rent-stabilized, ‘You don’t have a choice. Yet they made nowhere near enough to rent a new apartment. Because of the small pensions they received in addition to their Social Security, they made too much money to qualify for subsidized housing. At the same time, their economic situation made finding a new rental almost impossible. The couple wanted to buy, but bills from their son’s illness had wrecked their credit. For 27 years we were never late on rent, never missed a month,” Vivian said. ![]() Just over a year later, on December 1, 2021, the Smiths got a letter offering them an ultimatum: buy your apartment or leave when the lease expired on March 31, 2022. That all changed in November 2020, when the private equity firm Glacier Equities bought all the rental units in her building. ![]() This story was supported by the journalism nonprofit the Economic Hardship Reporting Project.
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