‘I feel like I can fi nally relax!’
Bed-Stuy family can stay in their home after deed theft case settled
BY BEN VERDE
A Bedford-Stuyvesant
family embroiled in a yearslong
legal battle with a fraudster
who stole their brownstone
will be able to stay in
their home after settling the
case in court.
Dairus Griffi ths, the
owner of a Halsey Street
brownstone since the early
1990’s, says he was tricked
into unknowingly selling his
house by a representative of
August Development in 2018.
Since then, his family has
been involved in a legal battle
to stay in their home of
over 30 years, fi nally prevailing
with a confi dential settlement
last month.
“I feel ecstatic, I feel relieved,
I feel like I can fi nally
move on and relax with my
own personal life,” said Doris
Briggs, the daughter of
Griffi ths, who grew up in
the Halsey Street home. “It’s
been extremely exhausting.”
Griffi ths, an immigrant
from Jamaica who retired
from the construction industry,
says a man named Eli
Mashieh from August Development
COURIER LIFE, A 20 UG. 27-SEPT. 2, 2021
fi rst approached him
in 2014 when Griffi th was
struggling fi nancially and
worried he would lose his
home. Mashieh allegedly offered
to help, but eventually
swindled Griffi ths into signing
over the deed of his home
a sale of just over $600,000,
when it is in fact worth nearly
$1.5 million, according to his
daughter.
Griffi th told reporters in
2019 he signed the deed over
on a street corner on the
hood of a car. Days later, he
told Mashieh he had changed
his mind, but Mashieh said it
was too late.
What followed was a
years-long legal battle that
looked hopeless for Griffths
and his family, until their
plight gained the attention
of the press and public offi -
cials like Borough President
Eric Adams, who held a press
conference in front of their
house in 2019 calling for an
investigation into the sale by
the Kings County District Attorney’s
offi ce.
“We received a lot of ‘no’s,’
a lot of ‘I can’t help you’s,”
said Briggs. “That was a very
tough time.”
The case took its toll on
Griffi ths, Briggs told Brooklyn
Paper. Her father bought
the home for his growing family
in the 1990’s, and intended
to keep it in the family, only
to see someone attempt to
strip it away from him.
“You work all your life,
you go through ups and
downs and challenges, but
you fi nally get on a good footing
and you’re right where
you need to be to retire, and
have your monthly payments
in order, and then boom —
someone’s saying they’re going
to take your home,” she
said.
After their case received
more attention, the Griffi ths
were able to retain pro-bono
representation from the legal
fi rm Sher Tremonte,
who secured a temporary restraining
order against August
Development — which
safeguarded the family from
eviction — and fi led a lawsuit
against August under the
Home Equity Theft Prevention
Act, eventually leading
to the settlement that allowed
Griffi ths to stay in his home.
While Griffi ths will not be
evicted, many Brooklyn families
have not been as fortunate.
Borough President Eric Adams held a press conference with Dairus Griffi
th (left) and his family in 2019. Borough President Eric Adams
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