A Brooklyn condominium developer is being forces to provide more than $6 million in restitution and purchase credits to buyers who made down payments but never received their properties or their money back for years.
An investigation by the Office of the New York Attorney General found that 425 Marcy LLC and its principal, Ezra Unger, unlawfully sold units and collected down payments from purchasers at 427 Marcy Avenue in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn before the building’s required offering plan for filing was formally accepted. An investigation found Unger had entered into contracts for 17 residential units, three commercial units, and three residential parking spaces, and collected a total of $6.715 million in down payments from the residential buyers.
The developer illegally used the buyers down payments to pay for various expenses instead of keeping the money in escrow, as required by law.
The case dragged on for years, with Unger being sued by other parties who alleged his company did not own the building and had defrauded the building’s true owners. In January 2023, a bankruptcy case was filed against the developer. As part of the bankruptcy proceeding, Unger lost his ownership interest in the company, and the building was ultimately sold to 33 Walton Holdings LLC, the new developer of the condominium. The bankruptcy case was completed in April 2025.
Unger is being required to repay his buyers, who can either receive their full down payments back with added interest or apply that money toward purchasing their original units once construction is completed under a new offering plan and by a new developer. Unger will also pay $824,000 in penalties and is barred from selling securities in New York for six years.
“When New Yorkers hand over their hard-earned savings for a down payment on a home, that money is not a piggy bank for developers to raid,” said New York Attorney General James. “This developer broke the law by taking money from families before it was legally allowed to sell these homes, then left them waiting for years with nothing to show for it. My office will continue to hold developers accountable and fight to get New Yorkers their money back.”
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