PARK SLOPE, Brooklyn (WABC) — A 90-year-old Brooklyn man is fighting to stay in the home he says was sold out from under him years ago without his knowledge — and now his neighborhood is joining the fight to keep him from being evicted.
Flanked by neighbors, family, and lawmakers, Ray Cortez is fighting eviction from the only home he’s known for over half a century.
“He was the victim of an egregious deed theft scam, we believe that because there is ongoing efforts to continue to take his house, this is warranted investigation,” said Assemblywoman Jo Ann Simon.
In two days, Cortez is expected in housing court.
“This is very troubling that our city is allowing this to happen, I call for an expedited investigation and to end the eviction proceedings,” said Council Member Shahana Hanif.
His son worries about the toll this is taking on his elderly father.
This has been a years-long saga for Cortez. In August, he proudly showed Eyewitness News the brownstone in which he raised his three children and bought in 1969 for just under $20,000. Now, located steps from the Barclays Center, it’s worth around $3 million.
But in 2006, Cortez says a fraudster conned him out of the title — then secretly took out an almost $700,000 loan on the house and disappeared.
“Hopefully Attorney General James and District Attorney Gonzalez will finally look into this and do justice by my father,” Cortez Jr. said.
The Brooklyn DA’s office had the following response:
“We conducted thorough investigations in 2019 and 2022, striving to find any means to assist Mr. Cortez. Unfortunately, even if we had uncovered evidence of a crime, legal constraints prevent us from taking action due to the statute of limitations.”
But Cortez’s attorneys say the DA’s office never told them about previous investigations, in addition, the fraudster has an active claim on the foreclosure sale — making a statute of limitations moot.
Attorney General Letitia James’ office would only say that they have been in touch with Cortez’s attorneys.
Despite the back and forth in the case, residents of this tightknit Park Slope community say one thing is crystal clear – Cortez does not deserve this trauma in his twilight years.
