Legal Question in Real Estate Law in New York

Re: Fraudulent eviction by landlord: RICO?

The word RICO has been frequently used in the media for the past couple of years. Yet, ask an average ordinary citizen what the word means and you may receive a multitude of bizarre answers. For example:"RICO and Lucy Ricardo were the characters in 'I Love Lucy'." "Isn't RICO the abbreviated name for the talk show 'Geraldo'?" "RICO, isn't that slang for Puerto Rico?" "RICO and The Man was a hit television show in the '70's."

RICO is an acronym for Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act. In 1970 the federal government passed RICO in order to hold individuals in an organization civilly and criminally responsible for racketeering activity. It is not easy to define racketeering activity in such a short column. However, the definition can be found in 18 U.S.C. section 1961, paragraph 1.

The federal government has jurisdiction over those individuals who participated in racketeering activity through the Commerce Clause which is enumerated in the U.S. Constitution. The Commerce Clause sets forth that the federal government can control and regulate interstate commerce. Pursuant to the statute there must be 2 independent racketeering acts. Through the years this clause has been broadly interpreted to include any activity which may interfere with interstate traffic. Since a corrupt organizaton's dealings has an impact on commerce, the federal government is allowed to legislate (ie. RICO) against same.

Mike.

Re: Fraudulent eviction by landlord: RICO?

As you can gather from reading Mr. Markowitz's reply, RICO was not created to deal with situations such as the one you face with your landlord. I know this is of little comfort to you.

You should try to find out what agency in your county deals with housing issues, and discuss your problem with them. Odds are, if this landlord had done this to you, he has probably done this to other people as well. If you live in a larger city, there may also be an agency that addresses housing as well.

If you can prove that the eviction was fraudulent, you may be able to sue the landlord under the common law. You must have more than accusations of fraud, however, you must have proof. The best way to judge this is to present all of your proof to an attorney to evaluate. Keep in mind, should you choose to take this route, you will be required to put out some money, for court filing fees, and for attorney's fees.