AG Campbell announced that her office has reached a $10 million settlement, via a proposed consent judgment, with New Jersey-based real estate company Schweb Partners LLC, its principals Jacques Schmidt and Abraham Weber, and multiple related entities (collectively, “Schweb”), who formerly owned and operated 62 majority low-income apartment buildings in Springfield known as “Springfield Gardens.” If approved by the court, the settlement will resolve allegations that the former landlord pervasively and systematically violated various state consumer protection and landlord-tenant laws, leading to unsafe, uninhabitable, and unlawful living conditions that impacted over one thousand tenants. As part of the proposed settlement, Schweb will pay $2.5 million to the Commonwealth and forgive $7.5 million in alleged unpaid rent for impacted tenants, resulting in a total of $10 million in consumer relief. Additionally, Schweb will be prohibited from owning or managing real estate properties in Massachusetts.

“Landlords who operate in Massachusetts have a legal obligation to ensure their tenants are living in safe and sanitary housing. When those obligations are violated, it doesn’t just break our laws, it unfairly traumatizes our residents who are often led to live in uninhabitable conditions or be uprooted from their homes. I am proud to announce this settlement, which will provide meaningful relief for tenants.” – AG Campbell