It sounds like Jared Kushner is the very definition of the modern-day slumlord. He makes a significant portion of his money in one of the swampiest businesses ever invented, one ripe for abuses against tenants that almost never have the resources to fight property owners, the very same property owners who often help write the very state laws overseeing the entire industry, very much in their favor. There are many horror stories and they can be a gut punch.

But it appears that the tenants in Kushner’s holdings in Maryland won big in an administrative law decision today. According to Law and Crime:

A Maryland judge ruled that an apartment company co-owned by former President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner violated consumer protection laws by charging improper fees to tenants, engaging in debt collection without the requisite licenses, and misstating the condition of its apartments, The Baltimore Sun reported Thursday evening.

Administrative Law Judge Emily Daneker issued a 252-page decision classifying violations by the company JK2 and its successor Westminster Management as “widespread and numerous.”

This is the one way in which tenants can win. It is almost never in a one-on-one situation, it is an entire community that goes after ownership over repeated violations, usually with each one incurring a significant fine. The more violations, the greater the fine. This was not a criminal case, though criminal cases can arise in the right circumstances.

The case stems from a lawsuit filed in 2019 by Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh. Frosh opened an investigation into the company and its partners after tenants filed a lawsuit alleging they were being charged inappropriate fees and ProPublica and The Baltimore Sun reported on rental practices that experts said were unlawful.

And so, of course, Kush tried to write it all off as some political vendetta, but the judge wasn’t having it.:

“The evidence does not establish differential treatment or selective enforcement based on any politically motivated basis, as opposed to motivation to protect Maryland consumers,” she wrote, according to the report.

So there is some justice out there today. Now, if we can just get some movement investigating Kushner’s dealings in the Middle East and the refinancing of his building, now that would be something that would really hit Kushner hard.

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Peace, y’all
Jason
[email protected] and on Twitter @JasonMiciak