The Brooklyn Democratic Party is reportedly being sued by its landlord, who says the group tried to break its lease during the coronavirus pandemic and owes over $80,000 in rent, plus tens of thousands more in utilities and other costs.
According to a lawsuit filed Thursday and first reported by City & State, the organization has leased an office building across the street from Brooklyn Borough Hall since 2005 but sent a letter to the real estate firm SL Green, who it believed was the building owner, dated July 16, 2020, that they were terminating the lease early in September 2020.
The reason for terminating was allegedly "due to the Tenant's inability to utilize the Premises for its intended purpose as a result of the Covid-19 Pandemic."
The Brooklyn Democratic Party was apparently unaware the building had been sold to the Los Angeles based CIM Group three years earlier.
ERIC ADAMS'S SURPRISING STATEMENT MIGHT FINALLY PUT AN END TO THIS FOOLISHNESS ABOUT FAITH
CIM Group responded in a September 4 letter saying it "wholly rejects" the attempt to break the lease and that the tenant has "no right to terminate."
The attorney for the group responded in another letter on October 16 and said they could not pay the $19,000 in rent due to debts they had incurred and asked for permission to use the freight elevator in the building to move out a 2,400-pound safe they used to store ballots.
BROOKLYN DA INVESTIGATING ALLEGED FORGERIES, FAVORITISM TIED TO DEMOCRATIC PARTY
The lawsuit filed Thursday says the Brooklyn Democrats moved out before the lease ended on November 1, 2020, and never paid the outstanding rent, which totaled $81,698. Once the utilities, taxes, attorneys fees, and interest were added in, the total came to $109,000.
City & State reported that the party had $255,402 in the bank as of January 2023, along with a $41,463 debt to an accounting firm.
Fox News Digital reached out to both CIM Group and the Brooklyn Democratic Party for comment but did not immediately receive a response.