Jennifer Weisselberg, former daughter-in-law of Trump Org CFO, faces eviction
Jennifer Weisselberg, the Trump Organization CFO's former daughter-in-law, is facing eviction.
Weisselberg has been living in an apartment on New York's Upper West Side since her divorce from Barry Weisselberg in 2018. According to a document from her divorce proceedings, Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization CFO, was a "guarantor" of the apartment but Jennifer was responsible for the monthly rent of $6,050.
In November 2020, Columbus Manor LLC, the owners of her building, sued both Jennifer and Allen Weisselberg for more than $54,000 in back rent.
That suit was dropped on May 14.
On May 18, the company filed a new complaint that named only Jennifer as a defendant. The complaint does not reference Allen or back rent. Instead, it claims her lease expired on April 30 and says "no renewal lease is required." It seeks "an order of ejectment and the forthwith issuance of a writ of eviction" from her building, which is managed by Stellar Management.
Jennifer Weisselberg said in an interview with CBS News Thursday that while she had at first been paying the rent on her own, she fell behind in 2020 because of financial and legal issues.
Weisselberg has met several times since last year with investigators for both the Manhattan district attorney and the New York State attorney general about their probes into the Trump Organization and Donald Trump.
In April, a New York grand jury issued a subpoena to Jennifer Weisselberg for several boxes of financial documents from her divorce that relate to her ex-husband, his father and the Trump Organization.
The real estate company and its attorney did not respond to questions about the eviction.
William Niebel, a Cornell University adjunct professor of law who specializes in tenant advocacy, said that while the real estate company can seek Jennifer's removal, a New York State COVID eviction moratorium may block it.
"The non-payment evictions and a non-renewal of a lease, a holdover eviction, both can be commenced at this time, but the New York State moratorium stops them dead in their tracks," Niebel said. He said tenants in New York can file paperwork claiming that, because of the pandemic, moving would cause either financial hardship or pose health risks.
Niebel said it's not unusual that the real estate company filed a new complaint that does not reference back-rent or Allen Weisselberg.
"It could be that it was paid, or it could be that the landlord said we don't care about the money, we just want you out," Niebel said.
Allen Weisselberg's attorney declined to comment.