A historic Bed Stuy home is in flux as Ayisha Doyle and her mother continue to grapple with an unexpected challenge to their ownership.
An estranged uncle allegedly sold a 75% share of the family property to Theodore Zucker, a Long Island real estate investor, in 2017. This came as a shock to Doyle and her mother, who had recently paid off the mortgage and maintained the family property, which the Doyles had owned for over five decades.
According to Brownstoner, Doyle received an unexpected call from a man claiming to have purchased the stake in the Bed Stuy home from her uncle Walter Giles through a company called Arlo 67 LLC. This revelation prompted immediate action from the Doyles to protect their family property from partition sale. The situation is complicated by the fact that Doyle’s grandmother’s will was never probated after her death in 2007. City records show Zucker paid Giles $300,000 for an unspecified share, with a deed allegedly signed and notarized in Australia.
The Doyles and their attorney have raised questions about Zucker’s ability to locate Giles and requested proof of payment. Three attempts by Zucker to force a partition sale were initially rejected by judges, who ruled that Arlo 67 LLC had no legitimate claim to the family property, as Giles never legally acquired any share to transfer in the first place.
However, a fourth attempt succeeded on a technicality, allowing the partition sale to proceed. The Bed Stuy home was auctioned on June 6 for $1.7 million, with Zucker’s LLC emerging as the buyer. Reportedly, the sale has not yet closed.
“The court, in issuing their judgment of partition and sale and allowing the premises to proceed to auction, has confirmed that Arlo has a valid ownership interest therein,” Zucker’s attorney said in a statement.
In response to such issues, the State Attorney General’s office has organized community sessions on preventing foreclosure and deed theft. It has allocated $150 million to fund legal services assisting homeowners, recognizing the need to protect vulnerable property owners from partition sales and similar threats to their family homes.
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