To: Shaun Donovan, HUD Secretary and Adam Weinstein, President & CEO, Phipps Houses Group

How YOUR Tax Dollars are Being Used to Victimize a Struggling Single Parent

Millionaire lobbyist and President and CEO of not for profit, Phipps Houses Group, Adam Weinstein has waged a relentless harassment attack on a tenant. As a result of the Tenant’s complaints he was forced to spend thousands of dollars replacing vents in two of his buildings.

After Tenant began to experience Weinstein’s harassment, Tenant wrote to HUD Secretary, Shaun Donovan informing Donovan of Weinstein’s victimization. Tenant also asked Donovan to relocate the family to another HUD building. Donovan responded by completely dismissing and ignoring the Tenant’s letters. Why is HUD Secretary, Shaun Donovan, is so dismissive of Weinstein’s harassment when Weinstein is receiveing millions in government monies under the guise of helping the needy? Clearly, Adam Weinstein’s victimization of the Tenant has been executed with the blessings of HUD Secretary, Shaun Donovan.

After Tenant complained to HUD about Weinstein’s repeated refusal to remove health hazardous conditions, he has repeatedly served Tenant with letters that are completely fabricated. The letters distort and twist the facts. In one letter the facts are distorted to make the Tenant appear difficult and uncooperative by not giving Phipps access to apartment to fix the problem. However, evidence proofs that Phipps Houses Group never gave the tenant proper notice.

What makes this particular letter from Phipps Houses so disturbing is that Phipps was the one who broke the law because landlords, Weinstein/Phipps Houses Group, is required to give tenant a week’s notice to fix that “type” of problem.

In addition to falsely accusing the tenant of not providing Phipps access to the apartment to make repairs, as per lease agreement – a legal document, the letter quotes a specific law. The law they quote pertains to something urgently immediate such as a fire or leak. Since the tenant has lived in the apartment there has never been an immediate urgency such as a fire, leak or flood.

Recently, the Tenant informed Phipps Houses Group that Tenant’s rent needed to be adjusted because UI benefits had been exhausted. The Tenant provided Phipps with the required financial documentation. Instead of providing the Tenant with the paperwork needed to reduce the rent they served the tenant with a Late Payment 10 Days Notice. Phipps did this knowing that the tenant not only paid rent but had actually over paid rent because Phipps intentionally denied the Tenant with papers/documents they are required to give Tenant to make the rent reduction.

After Tenant received Ten Days Notice (that was forwarded to their attorney) Tenant wrote Adam Weinstein a letter stating the specific day and time that Tenant provided Phipps with the financial documentation. Within minutes of Adam Weinstein receiving this certified letter a Phipps representative contacted the tenant; safe to assume Phipps thought Tenant did not have proof of providing them with the financial documentation. During separate phone conversations between Tenant and this specific Phipps representative, tenant was intentionally misguided and misinformed, by not providing Tenant with needed information.

Although Tenant is on a limited budget, due to Weinstein’s determination to illegally evict Tenant, Tenant is forced to spend money sending certified letters addressing his harassment and buying USPS money orders and using certified mail to pay for rent. It is these USPS money orders and certified mail that proof tenant has always paid rent on a timely basis (with the exception of Hurricane Sandy).

Adam Weinstein/Phipps Houses Group has consistently used unethical practices that include but are not limited to the following:
1. Misusing consent forms that tenant had previously signed to obtain information that they should NOT be requesting and that does not apply to the tenancy.
2. Phipps illegally entered Tenant’s apartment without Tenant’s knowledge or consent.
3. Property Manager attempted to take pictures of the apartment without Tenant’s knowledge or consent.
4. Tenant was manipulated into signing completely blank and un-notarized affidavits that Tenant had ALRADY given Phipps. Tenant had already filled out/completed all of the documents that included affidavits, had them notarized, signed, and dated, and sent it them via certified mail.

Upon advise tenant requested that Phipps give the tenant back all of the blank and un-notarized documents that included affidavits, that tenant was manipulated into signing by the Phipps employee.

At first tenant was denied this request. However, the tenant was then told tenant could have them. Although tenant had made it clear that tenant just wanted the blank documents that included affidavits that she was forced to sign, Phipps gave tenant the form that tenant had specifically gone to sign (FORM hud-50059). Why would tenant request the form back, when the tenant went to the Property Management Office specifically to sign it in order to get the rent reduced?
5. When tenant...

Why is this important?

This story is very REAL. It is based on FACTS. The story is about how YOUR tax dollars are being used to victimize and harass a single struggling parent. This petition was started because repeated requests to HUD to relocate the family have been ignored coupled with the landlord's refusal to stop victimizing the family.