Elderly Upper West Side couple claim they’re stuck with ‘roommate from hell’ – an abusive realtor in their 30s who uses loopholes to avoid paying them a dime in rent Last year.
Eugene Sarver, 78, who uses a wheelchair and suffers from severe Parkinson’s disease, and his wife, Nina, 74, who has dementia, say they made the unfortunate decision two years ago to rent a room in their spacious West 97e Apartment across the street for $992 a month to Lawrence Lee, a licensed agent for real estate titan Douglas Elliman.
Eugene Sarver alleges Lee stole the couple’s watches, pens and other items, regularly eavesdrops on their conversations and particularly scared his wife with “poor hygiene habits” that attract rodents and other pests to the apartment .
“He’s a horrible tenant and a pathological liar!” Sarver thundered at the Post.
The couple say the experience has left them so stressed that they have been in and out of hospitals for the past year for heart issues and other ailments while trying to get Lee deported – only to see the shrewd salesman dragging the process by repeatedly applying for state aid and then appealing after being rejected.
The situation has gotten so bad that the couple routinely stay 10 miles away at a Bronx nursing home while Lee runs free on their subsidized rent, $2,200 a month, three-bedroom, two-bathroom that includes a lavish office space.
Lee stopped paying his share of rent and utilities in June 2021 — and now owes the couple $12,518 that they had to shell out, according to records provided by the Sarvers.
That same month, Eugene Sarver filed a police report alleging that Lee violently snatched a cellphone from the senior’s hands while he was interviewing “a potential tenant” to replace Lee, according to court records. NYPD.
“He came into my office and snatched the phone from my hands very vigorously,” recalled the retired global marketing expert and professor of political science. “I had pain in my arm for two weeks. And he said, ‘I’ll never move.’
Manhattan Housing Court records show the Sarvers are seeking to have Lee evicted, but the process was put on hold last year because the alleged moocher repeatedly applied for help through the Home Assistance Program. state emergency rental.
By law, he cannot be evicted from the apartment if he has appeals pending – even though records provided by the Sarvers show he has been repeatedly rejected and simply continues to circumvent the system by asking again help.
Eugene Sarver said Lee’s application continues to be denied in part because the couple won’t sign the paperwork claiming the real estate agent is eligible for assistance. The elder said he and his wife won’t cooperate because Lee is “scamming the system” and they don’t want to be a part of it.
“He saw an opportunity to make money, but he’s living an expensive life,” Sarver said.
During a visit to their apartment with the elderly couple on Friday, a Post reporter spotted Lee moving a massive air conditioner through the space. When asked for comment, he dropped the air conditioner on the living room floor and ran to hide in his bedroom.
A journalist and photographer from the Post then had to move the device so that Eugene Sarver could move around the living room in his wheelchair. Lee later continued to decline comment before fleeing down an eighth-floor stairwell.
Additional reporting by Irie Sentner
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