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NYC Woman Falls for $19 Million Penthouse Scam, Slams Corcoran Group With Lawsuit The single mom of three's dream home has turned into a nightmare.

By Amanda Breen Edited by Jessica Thomas

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In today's real estate market, snagging an NYC penthouse would be a dream come true for most.

But for one NYC woman, who's a single mom of three, a $19 million, 5,550-square-foot Tribeca property has turned into a nightmare, per the New York Post, as she claims she was sold the home in March under the pretense of it having a full-time doorman.

Related: The Real Estate Housing Market Is Shifting: Too Many Homes, Not Enough Buyers

Like most places in the country, the Tribeca area's median home sale price has increased year over year, clocking in at $3,675,000, according to Redfin — making the woman's purchase significantly higher than average. Per the same data, there were 66 homes sold in July this year, down from 108 the year before.

The seven-story luxury condo building in question, located at 37 Warren Street, only has a part-time doorman on weekdays and a virtual attendant on weekends, the Manhattan Supreme Court filing alleges.

The breach-of-contract suit, which seeks the return of a $1.9 million deposit, names the Corcoran Group, founded by Shark Tank star Barbara Corcoran in 1973, and one of its brokers, Catherine Juracich, claiming the buyer felt "unsafe" without the full-time doorman. Upon learning about the doorman situation, she broke the purchase contract this summer, per the Post.

According to the suit, the seller Zoelle LLC was "intentionally false and descriptive" in its representation of the listing. It also accuses the Corcoran Group of misrepresenting the penthouse in an ad, strategically showing the penthouse when the doorman was there and blocking a virtual-doorman screen that indicated the attendant's part-time status.

Related: What Is a Housing Market Recession?

An attorney for the seller filed a letter with the court stating his client isn't responsible.

Amanda Breen

Entrepreneur Staff

Senior Features Writer

Amanda Breen is a senior features writer at Entrepreneur.com. She is a graduate of Barnard College and received an MFA in writing at Columbia University, where she was a news fellow for the School of the Arts.

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