Bushwick tenant shames ‘worst landlord in NYC’ to give security deposit back

June 22, 2018 By Gordon Walker Special to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle

142 Grove St. Image © 2018 Google Maps photo

Share this:

An unhappy tenant in Bushwick got his $2,550 security deposit back in a very unorthodox way.

Seth Callaway and his wife moved out of their apartment at 142 Grove St. in February and expected to be reimbursed for their security deposit sooner rather than later.

The apartment belongs to Silvershore Properties, whose owner, Jonathan Cohen, was named the worst landlord in NYC in 2017 by Public Advocate Letitia James.

Silvershore didn’t answer emails, calls or any attempt at communication from Callaway. When two months passed with no response, the miffed tenant decided to do something about it.

After 100 days, Callaway started the website www.silvershorted.com, which is dedicated entirely to venting his frustration with the company.

He gathered all the negative information he could about Silvershore, from one-star Yelp reviews to articles about the property holders’ shortcomings.

His site went up on June 14, and in only four days he reached his goal. SilverShore Properties, who did not want more negative press than they were already getting, contacted Callaway asking for his wire details and transferred the money right away, Bklyner reported.

Callaway accomplished all this without having to file a claim in the New York court system, something that would have taken a lot more time and money than the $11 he spent on the URL.