A Bronx landlord, who is fighting for life after getting infected from COVID is being sued over a loan he was forced to take out during the pandemic-related rent moratorium. Jeffrey Schneider is facing two lawsuits filed by Premier Capital Funding LLC. According to court documents, Schneider, who is on life support took out a $23,000 high-interest loan in May through his company Remie Realty Corp.
The landlord of a rent-controlled building in the Bronx, Schneider took out the $23,000 loan after his tenants, affected by the pandemic, stopped paying rent. He paid back $25000 of the roughly $35000 he owed before Coronavirus nearly killed him. The rising interests of the $23000 loan have become a whopping $58,000, which the lending company is seeking Schneider for.
"This debt that started out with the merchant [Remie] receiving $23,000 has now exploded into an $85,000 debt. He's already paid $25,000 of it and they are still asking for more," Schneider family lawyer Ashlee Colonna Cohen told The Post.
Fully vaccinated
Schneider's wife, Cindy Schneider noted that the virus left him 'on a ventilator and extracorporeal life support (ECMO machine.' He was fully vaccinated. Schneider endured a hard time when the state eviction moratorium allowed for many of his tenants to stop paying rent during the pandemic.
It left him severely 'hampering [his company's] ability to generate revenue,' according to an affidavit filed by Cindy. According to court documents, Schneider took out short-term, extremely high interest, loans called 'merchant cash advances' including the one from Premier, for which he entered an agreement to repay roughly $35, 750.
Loan sharks
His wife, however, was unaware of the loans. Jeffery got infected with COVID in November last year and was admitted to the hospital. He has been in the hospital ever since. On November 29 he was placed on life support and the lending company Premiere filed the lawsuit two days later when the payment stopped.
The Schneider family's attorney, Cohen noted that the family offered the company to pay $11,000 of the remaining debt but they 'rejected it because they wanted their fees.'
Cindy is now asking a judge to reverse a January 4 default judgment that Premier secured for $38,000 against Jeffrey since he is 'incapacitated, disabled and unable to protect his interest or appear in this action.'
Lawsuits
Cindy also noted that she was not aware of the default judgment until later when a cheque she wrote to a Remie Realty employee bounced because Premier had all of her husband's personal and business accounts frozen to obtain the $38,000.
Premier also filed a second suit against Remie in Manhattan Supreme Court for another $20,000 regarding the same loan. Attorney Cohen is seeking to overturn the judgment that was also filed in that case.
