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A New Jersey landlord agreed to a $10 million penalty for a history of unsafe living conditions at a Springfield property that generated more than 26,000 complaints this decade.

Schweb Partners LLC is the former owner of Springfield Gardens, a 62-unit complex which was plagued by health and safety violations including mold, collapsed ceilings, water leaks and lack of heat and hot water, Attorney General Andrea Campbell announced.

The company, led by principals Jacques Schmidt and Abraham Weber, “systematically violated various state consumer protection and landlord-tenant laws,” Campbell’s office announced this week.

Under the terms of a consent order, which is subject to court approval, Schweb Partners will forgive $7.5 million in unpaid rent and a $2.5 million fine to the Commonwealth. The company would be prohibited from owning or managing real estate in Massachusetts.

Instead of keeping tenants’ security deposits in separate accounts as required by law, Schweb Partners used the money to cover its own expenses, Campbell’s office stated.

The complex was occupied by nearly 1,300 tenants. Many of the violations were uncorrected for years, despite 26,000 tenant complaints and court orders during Schweb Partners’ ownership period from 2020 to 2024. Some entire buildings had no heat for days in the winter months, according to the complaint filed this week in Suffolk Superior Court.

“Landlords who operate in Massachusetts have a legal obligation to ensure their tenants are living in safe and sanitary housing. When those obligations are violated, it doesn’t just break our laws, it unfairly traumatizes our residents who are often led to live in uninhabitable conditions or be uprooted from their homes,” Campbell said in a statement.

Through its attorney, Andrew London at Boston-based Foley Hoag, Schweb Partners declined to comment.

Apartment Landlord Faces Ban from Massachusetts

by Steve Adams time to read: 1 min
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