{"id":297782,"date":"2026-07-16T16:44:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T16:44:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/297782\/"},"modified":"2026-07-16T16:44:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T16:44:09","slug":"queens-officials-want-da-to-investigate-rental-fraud-allegations-after-gothamist-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/297782\/","title":{"rendered":"Queens officials want DA to investigate rental fraud allegations after Gothamist report"},"content":{"rendered":"

Elected officials in Queens are calling on local prosecutors to investigate a self-described \u201creal estate advisor\u201d named David Michael after a Gothamist investigation<\/a> uncovered a pattern of fraud allegations from renters who accused him of stealing their deposits for apartments.<\/p>\n

In a letter to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz, Councilmember Julie Won urged the prosecutor\u2019s office to prioritize an investigation into the complaints. Won\u2019s district includes Sunnyside, where Michael once operated a real estate business called The Pyramid Group and where many renters said they had been defrauded.<\/p>\n

In her letter, which was shared with Gothamist, Won told Katz that she believes the allegations against Michael fall under the scope of the Queens DA\u2019s fraud division.<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand that complaints about this individual have been filed with your office,\u201d Won wrote, calling on prosecutors to investigate and \u201cfacilitate the recovery\u201d of any deposit money owed to her constituents.<\/p>\n

In an interview, Councilmember and chair of the Council\u2019s Committee on Consumer and Worker Protection Harvey Epstein also called on law enforcement officials to investigate.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would encourage both the Queens DA and the attorney general to do follow up evaluations because I do think this requires some level of criminal oversight,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Michael did not respond to a request for comment. In a previous statement he denied that he stole money \u201cor otherwise engaged in criminal conduct.\u201d<\/p>\n

David Michael worked out of a real estate office in Sunnyside, Queens, called The Pyramid Group that is now a packing and shipping store.<\/p>\n

Gregory Mango \/ For Gothamist<\/p>\n

Gothamist spoke with more than a dozen people who accused Michael of taking hundreds to thousands of dollars in deposits for apartments he showed them, and never refunding them when the deals fell through. Many had said they were asked to pay good-faith deposits to hold apartments before leases were signed, a practice made illegal in 2019.<\/p>\n

Records obtained from the Department of State show Michael\u2019s real estate license was revoked in 2015 over similar complaints. He does not appear in the state\u2019s registry of licensed real estate brokers. State law prohibits brokers from advertising or taking money for apartments on others\u2019 behalf without a license.<\/p>\n

Recent postings on Craigslist show a “Mr D Michael” has continued to advertise apartments using the same phone number that was listed for The Pyramid Group.<\/p>\n

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz<\/p>\n

Queens District Attorney’s office<\/p>\n

Renters caught up in the alleged scams have voiced frustration about what they see as a lack of response by the Queens DA and other local authorities.<\/p>\n

Enrique Narv\u00e1ez filed a complaint with Katz\u2019s office in December of last year alleging Michael never returned a $3,000 deposit that Narv\u00e1ez said he paid for a commercial space in Woodside that never materialized. Just a week after Narv\u00e1ez filed the complaint, Katz\u2019s Housing and Worker Protection Bureau told him it would not pursue criminal charges.<\/p>\n

Narv\u00e1ez said he feels there is a gap between what the law says and what rules prosecutors in Queens are willing to enforce.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhich is insane because it’s New York City, there\u2019s supposed to be a big protection for people,\u201d Narv\u00e1ez said.<\/p>\n

Enrique Narv\u00e1ez, pictured here, said David Michael asked him for $16,000 up front for a commercial space in Queens after he\u2019d already paid a $3,000 deposit that was never refunded after the deal fell through.<\/p>\n

Catalina Gonella \/ Gothamist<\/p>\n

Prosecutors in other boroughs have taken action in response to other complaints.<\/p>\n

This month, a Bronx man named Juan Valoy<\/a> pleaded guilty in Manhattan and the Bronx to stealing more than $100,000 dollars from 21 people in those boroughs through a rental scam.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors in both boroughs accused Valoy of showing apartments he didn\u2019t own or have any permission to rent. They said he fraudulently took application fees, security deposits and first months\u2019 rents, and then refused to refund the victims when they did not get apartments.<\/p>\n

Won\u2019s spokesperson, Elmo Tumbokon, said Katz\u2019s office responded to Won\u2019s letter on Friday, confirming it was now investigating complaints against Michael.<\/p>\n

Anna Sokol, Katz\u2019s senior media adviser, did not respond to a request to confirm whether an investigation had been opened. She also did not answer a detailed list of questions about how the DA\u2019s office has handled complaints against Michael.<\/p>\n

Won sent a similar letter to New York Attorney General Letitia James, asking her office to investigate. James\u2019 spokesperson declined to comment on Won\u2019s request, but her office previously confirmed that it had received four complaints against Michael.<\/p>\n

Several renters who spoke with Gothamist said they had tried to report Michael to the police. NYPD spokesperson Brad Weekes said it is department policy to refer people alleging real estate fraud to small claims court instead of local prosecutors.<\/p>\n

At least two dozen people have filed lawsuits against Michael in Queens and Brooklyn small claims courts over the past 14 years. But even those who won court judgments against Michael said he still never returned their money.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s just unbelievable that he’s been doing this for so long to so many people, and it seems like he’s unstoppable,\u201d said Doris Gomez, who sued Michael in 2019 over a $500 deposit she said he never returned after an apartment never came through. \u201cI don’t care about my money anymore, I just care about some kind of justice being served because he just doesn\u2019t care.\u201d<\/p>\n

Councilmember Harvey Epstein<\/p>\n

John McCarten\/NYC Council Media Unit<\/p>\n

Won told Gothamist she is pursuing legislation in the City Council that would \u201craise penalties on bad actor brokers who advertise fake listings\u201d and create a citywide rental registry that would allow renters to verify a listing is real before they pay a deposit.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unclear whether such measures would curb the kind of practices Michael is accused of engaging in. Many of the renters who spoke with Gothamist said Michael\u2019s listings appeared to be legitimate and that he showed them apartments in person. At least two people said they paid deposits and successfully moved in.<\/p>\n

Narv\u00e1ez and four other people who claim they lost deposits said Michael reached out to them to offer refunds after Gothamist contacted him for comment.<\/p>\n

In Narv\u00e1ez\u2019s case, Michael said he would only return the money if Narv\u00e1ez signed a liability release waiving his rights to sue Michael, according to recent emails shared with Gothamist. Narvaez refused, noting he had a small claims court judgment showing Michael owed him the money.<\/p>\n

Narv\u00e1ez said he still hasn\u2019t received a refund.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Elected officials in Queens are calling on local prosecutors to investigate a self-described \u201creal estate advisor\u201d named David…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":297783,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-297782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=297782"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297782\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/297783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=297782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=297782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=297782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}