But the dispute began years earlier, when the Joneses signed a lease on February 15, 2018 for Apartment 3 at 131 Vernon Avenue, trusting Sepideh Homayoonfar’s claim of ownership.
The February 28, 2023 court decision declared Homayoonfar’s deed fraudulent, restoring title to Shaul Amzalag, who then conveyed the property to 131 Vernon Elite LLC on March 29, 2023.
On April 22, 2023 Vernon Elite launched a holdover proceeding, and on September 1, 2023 filed a lawsuit seeking $163,000 for alleged use and occupancy dating back to September 2017—periods that pre‑dated both the Joneses’ tenancy and Elite’s record ownership.
Yet on October 30, 2023 the parties reached a settlement: the Joneses would vacate by February 18, 2024 and, if they complied, Elite would waive all arrears and drop its claim. Before that deadline, Elite sold the building to Abraham Gelbstein on February 6, 2024 and assigned its landlord‑tenant rights to him.
The Joneses stayed after negotiating a new court‑approved agreement on March 29, 2024, allowing occupancy until May 31, 2024 in exchange for two $2,000 payments. They paid both sums, vacated on schedule, but Elite still pursued a $120,000 judgment, which it secured on September 23, 2024.
In August 2026 the Joneses asked the court to vacate that judgment. After oral arguments on August 31 and an inquest on September 17, the court ruled on November 5, 2026 that Vernon Elite no longer possessed the ownership rights needed to enforce the earlier settlement, and therefore the $120,000 judgment was set aside.
The decision confirms that a landlord’s right to collect debts tied to possession ends when the property is sold and those rights are transferred. Tenants facing legacy claims after a sale now have clear judicial protection, limiting landlords’ ability to resurrect old judgments.