Lindsay Lohan’s younger brother, Michael Lohan Jr., is being sued for allegedly cashing in on the Big Apple real estate market by illegally deregulating more than 150 rent-stabilized apartments, state Attorney General Letitia James said.
The Hollywood star’s sibling is among a handful of property honchos tied to Peak Capital Advisors who were involved in an alleged scheme to oust tenants in rent-stabilized apartments in Brooklyn and Queens so they could renovate the buildings into luxury lofts and market them to young professionals for upward of $6,500 per month in some cases, according to the lawsuit.
The suit, filed last week, alleges that the real estate development company’s bigwigs bought up 31 buildings across the two boroughs dating back to 2019 — including in trendy neighborhoods like Greenpoint and Williamsburg.
Michael Lohan Jr. is among a handful of property honchos involved in an alleged scheme to oust tenants in rent-stabilized apartments. Getty Images
They then converted 159 rent-stabilized apartments in those buildings to market-rate so they could overcharge tenants scrambling to live in those areas, court filings allege.
“Peak’s business plan from the outset was to market the apartments to young professionals willing to pay high rents without regard for rent stabilization laws,” the suit states.
“Peak specifically looked for buildings with ‘significant upside potential’ in gentrifying neighborhoods such as Sunnyside, Astoria, Long Island City, and Greenpoint.”
As part of the alleged scheme, Lohan and his co-accused exploited an exemption in state housing law that aims to incentivize the rehabilitation of seriously deteriorated buildings.
“Peak ignored the law and renovated solely to increase its profits,” the lawsuit charges.
Lindsay Lohan’s younger brother, Michael Lohan Jr., is being sued for an alleged illegal rent scheme. Getty Images for Cadillac
“Records clearly show that Peak’s buildings did not require extensive renovations to be habitable, as they were in average or good condition when Peak bought them. Therefore, Peak did not meet the legal requirement for deregulation.”
Once the renovations were complete, they allegedly tried to cover their tracks by reassigning apartment numbers in the building to make it harder for tenants and regulators to track whether the rent was actually legal.
One of the buildings, located at 101 Greenpoint Avenue in Brooklyn, started listing apartments with jacked up rent on Streeteasy.com in 2023.
As part of the alleged scheme, Lohan and his co-accused exploited an exemption in state housing law that aims to incentivize the rehabilitation of seriously deteriorated buildings. Getty Images
One apartment, 1F, was advertised for $6,800 per month — despite the last legal regulated rent for the dwelling being $1,194.38, the suit charges.
Apartment 3L, which had previously been known as 5B, was advertised with a monthly rent of $4,800. The last known regulated rent on record for that apartment was $1,331.01.
“There was no legal basis to increase the rents to $6,800 and $4,800, respectively,” the suit claimed.
Michael Lohan Jr. and Lindsay Lohan posing together at the “Just Sing It” app launch event in 2016. WireImage
None of the listings disclosed that the apartments were rent-stabilized, according to the filing.
The eight-building apartment, which was built before 1974, is currently described on StreetEasy as “a fully remodeled boutique luxury loft building.”
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Lohan, who is described in the lawsuit as a principal and head of Peak’s investor relations, received rent or was entitled to receive rent from the properties, the lawsuit claims, noting that he “personally received unlawful monetary gains.”
The suit, brought jointly by the AG’s Office and the state’s Homes and Community Renewal Commission, is asking for the overcharged rent to be paid back, as well as damages for the tenants.
“It is no secret that New York City is already battling an affordable housing crisis, and yet Peak and its operators still chose to line their own pockets at New Yorkers’ expense,” James said in a statement. Getty Images
“It is no secret that New York City is already battling an affordable housing crisis, and yet Peak and its operators still chose to line their own pockets at New Yorkers’ expense,” James said in a statement.
“As these bad actors illegally raked in profits, affordable housing in New York grew even more scarce, and that is unacceptable. Let this lawsuit be a warning: When corporate developers and bad landlords try to cheat housing laws, my office will always take aggressive action to stop them.”
The others listed in the lawsuit include Juan David Gomez, Alex Rabin, Amnay Labou, Bryan Anderson, Alex Kaskel, and Alex Mendik.
The Post reached out to Peak Capital Advisors but didn’t hear back immediately.