A Tale of Two Standards
New York Attorney General Letitia James has made a name for herself prosecuting landlords and real estate fraudsters. Yet our investigation reveals troubling discrepancies in her own property filings—irregularities that would likely result in stiff penalties for most New Yorkers.
Documents from the NYC Department of Buildings show a pattern of inconsistencies about a Brooklyn property James owns—inconsistencies that mysteriously received special treatment when reported.
Note: Links to NYC Department of Buildings records may load slowly due to system capacity limitations. Please be patient as they connect to the city’s database.
At the heart of the issue is a contradiction between what the city officially permits and what James’ filings claim.
The Certificate of Occupancy for 296 Lafayette Avenue in Brooklyn—issued January 26, 2001—clearly states the property is a five-family dwelling regulated under NYC housing laws. James purchased this property on February 14, 2001, just two weeks after this Certificate of Occupancy was issued. This official classification has been on the books for more than two decades.
Yet James repeatedly filed permit applications identifying the same property as a four-family dwelling—a classification subject to different regulatory requirements under New York City building codes. Under NYC building code classifications, her property with five units would be classified as C2 (which applies to buildings with 5+ units), while her filings list it as C3 (which applies to 3-4 unit buildings). This fundamental contradiction between the long-established Certificate of Occupancy and her permit applications raises serious questions about regulatory compliance.
Multiple Discrepant Filings Show Pattern, Not Mistake
This wasn’t a one-time error. We uncovered multiple DOB permit applications containing identical discrepancies:
- July 2020 Application (Job #340743146): Documents show “Dwelling Units: Existing: 4” despite the Certificate of Occupancy listing five units for the past 19 years.
- September 2020 Application (Job #340768510): Another filing repeats the same inconsistent information.
The permit application details are explicit, stating: “Total Number of Dwelling Units at Location: 4” for a property documented in the Certificate of Occupancy as a five-unit building since 2001.
This discrepancy goes far beyond a simple administrative error. As noted in my previous post, mortgage documents signed by Letitia James repeatedly characterize the property as a four-unit building—a critical representation that directly contradicts the official Certificate of Occupancy, which clearly designates the structure as a five-family dwelling. This inconsistency carries significant legal and financial implications, potentially allowing James to secure more favorable lending terms or avoid stricter regulatory requirements that apply to larger multi-unit properties.
The applications to the Department of Buildings were submitted through the city’s professional certification program, under which the architect affirmed:
“I HEREBY STATE THAT I HAVE EXERCISED A PROFESSIONAL STANDARD OF CARE IN CERTIFYING THAT THE FILED APPLICATION IS COMPLETE AND IN ACCORDANCE WITH APPLICABLE LAWS… I FURTHER REALIZE THAT ANY MISREPRESENTATION OR FALSIFICATION OF FACTS MADE KNOWINGLY OR NEGLIGENTLY BY ME, MY AGENTS OR EMPLOYEES, OR BY OTHERS WITH MY KNOWLEDGE, WILL RENDER ME LIABLE FOR LEGAL AND DISCIPLINARY ACTION…”
This sworn certification underscores the seriousness of the discrepancy. It was not merely a clerical oversight, but a representation made within a process where legal and professional accountability is explicitly defined—yet seemingly unenforced in this case. (Read more: White Collar Fraud, 3/21/2025) (Archive)
(…) There seems to be a pattern of possible mortgage fraud in regard to Letitia James. New questions have now arisen about a home Letitia James purchased with her father, Robert James.
In the Spring of 1983, Letitia James was 24 and living in Brooklyn with her parents. She had graduated from CUNY’s Lehman College in 1981. She would not begin law school at Howard University in Washington, DC, until the fall of 1984.
According to New York City Department of Finance records, on May 20, 1983, Letitia James and her father, Robert James, took out a real estate loan from Kadilac Funding Ltd. for $30,300 as “husband and wife.” For the record, Letitia James’ mother is Nellie James.
The husband-and-wife designation is clear and in capital letters on the very top of the first page of the loan document and on the signature page, which reads “ROBERT JAMES AND LETITIA JAMES, HIS WIFE.”
This loan was used to purchase a small 888-square-foot two-story home at 114-04 Inwood Street in Queens, New York, likely for Letitia to live in.
Meanwhile, the deed for the property, executed on the same day, has a different designation. On the top, it says the property is being purchased by “ROBERT JAMES AND LETITIA JAMES, his daughter.”
At the age of 24, Letitia James may have had trouble qualifying for a home loan as a single woman with little or no income.
The question for Ms. James is whether she and her father defrauded the mortgage company, Kadilac Funding, by pretending to be husband and wife in order to qualify for the loan.
(…) In February 2024, James led a high-profile fraud case against Donald Trump. In her relentless pursuit of Trump, James has denied herself any easy excuses. She offered Trump no benefit of the doubt and disregarded the lack of an injured party.
Playing hardball, James secured a massive a judgment that found Trump and his company guilty of inflating asset values to secure better financial terms.