A crowd once again gathered outside a Bed-Stuy home on Monday morning to defend its occupants against what they describe as an unfair eviction attempt and deed theft.
Carmella Charrington, longtime resident of 212 Jefferson Ave., stood outside her home on April 27 along with about 100 demonstrators after word spread that the sheriff’s office might return to the home on Monday to continue with an eviction proceeding that ended in chaos last week.
Charrington is fighting to retain ownership of her family home while also contesting legal proceedings involving her father, Allman Charrington. Supporters say the case is emblematic of broader issues affecting homeowners across the city, while opponents and court filings point to ongoing legal questions still being litigated.
The Charrington family has owned the property for 60 years. City records show the house was sold by a number of supposed heirs, as well as Allman’s conservator in Georgia, to 227 Group LLC for $1.4 million, in 2023. However, Charrington has said her father was unaware of the sale; and that the family — including her father, who relocated back to New York City from Georgia in 2021 — was still living in the home at the time. Charrington has said the other heirs had no legal claim to sell the house and the conservator in Georgia failed to follow the law in selling Allman’s shares.
The crux of the controversy is whether the property was obtained through legitimate means. Advocates with the People’s Coalition to Stop Deed Theft argue it was not.
Evangeline Byars, a member of the coalition, said the group was alerted that law enforcement could arrive to evict Charrington and moved quickly to gather outside the home in protest.
“We were alerted that police were coming here to try to evict Carmella from her home,” Byars said. “The Attorney General has acknowledged this acquisition emanated from deed theft.”
Byars referenced a statement from the New York Attorney General’s office, which she said initially downplayed the case before later acknowledging elements consistent with deed theft. She and other advocates argue that the shift in language underscores inconsistencies in how such cases are handled.
James’ office has said that the Charrington’s case was not deed theft. At a press conference last week, the AG said referred to the situation as a “scam,” the likes of which had inspired her office to create a homeowner protection program, but said the Charrington situation “Technically it wasn’t a deed theft. It emanated from deed theft.”
“If it emanated from deed theft, why is no one helping this family get their property back?” Byars said.
The coalition argues that the case is part of a broader pattern affecting homeowners across the city, particularly seniors and vulnerable property owners, and is calling for a statewide eviction moratorium until court systems are reformed.
Byars said hundreds of families are involved in the coalition’s work, though only a small number were able to attend the Bed-Stuy demonstration due to health issues, hospitalizations and caregiving responsibilities.
“We have seniors who can’t even be here today,” she said. “But there are hundreds of families going through this.”
The group also criticized the structure of New York’s housing courts, arguing that landlord-tenant and foreclosure proceedings often move too quickly and fail to provide adequate opportunity for defense.
“In landlord-tenant court, there is no jury,” Byars said. “Whatever the judge says is final. That’s a problem.”
Tangled with the eviction proceeding is a separate case related to the conservatorship of Charrington’s father, Allman, in Georgia. Charrington is fighting the conservatorship, and was arrested earlier this month after she allegedly failed to bring her father to a court appearance related to the case. She was taken into custody that afternoon and held at Rikers Island for five days.
Just a few hours after her release on April 22, law enforcement arrived at 212 Jefferson Ave. to attempt to evict Charrington and find her father, who was inside the home at the time. Officers were met with a huge group of protestors who were attempting to prevent the eviction. Four people were arrested in the ensuing clash, including including Council Member Chi Ossé.
“I would never have my father in any of this,” Charrington said. “I am my father’s power of attorney. I am in place to protect him.”
Charrington said she believes she has been blocked from fully presenting her case in court, and that efforts to compel her father’s transfer out of New York state are both unlawful and dangerous. She said her detention was in “retaliation” for her refusal to comply with court directives she disputes.
“They have a habeas corpus against me saying I have to produce my father,” she said. “That’s why I was in jail.”
District Leader candidate Omar Hardy also spoke at the demonstration, using the case to raise broader concerns about housing law, judicial accountability and what he described as systemic misuse of legal mechanisms like guardianship and conservatorship.
“This is a deed theft case,” Hardy said. “And there are attempts to skip over that fact.”
Hardy pointed to what he described as conflicting public statements regarding the case, particularly from James, which he said had alternated between denying and acknowledging deed theft elements.
“You can’t say it’s not deed theft and then say it emanated from deed theft,” he said.
He also argued that the guardianship and conservatorship systems are being misapplied in the case involving Charrington’s father, claiming that interstate jurisdictional procedures were not properly followed.
“The state of Georgia has no jurisdiction in New York without going through proper steps,” Hardy said. “That did not happen here.”
Hardy further criticized the presiding judge in the case, Judge Rachel Freier, alleging that relevant claims of deed theft were improperly dismissed during proceedings and calling for greater community oversight in judicial selections.
“These judges are not being vetted by the community,” he said. “We need accountability in how they get into these positions.”
He added that his campaign is focused on increasing community involvement in judicial oversight through district leadership roles and public education initiatives.
Charrington echoed concerns about transparency in court proceedings, saying she believes critical information has been excluded or ignored.
“I couldn’t be heard. They don’t want to hear anything because they know what they’ve done is illegal,” she said. “That’s why they’re trying to prevent us from being heard.”
She also described conversations with others who she says have experienced similar legal disputes involving the same judge and comparable property issues, calling the situation part of a wider pattern. Charrington characterized the situation as part of a broader, coordinated issue affecting multiple properties and families, though those claims have not been independently substantiated.
“It’s a syndicate crime,” she said. “We’re saying ‘no more.’ We’re exposing what they’ve been doing.”
Activists said they have members in the neighborhood 24/7 to keep watch over the home in case police return to continue eviction proceedings, and can mobilize quickly to call dozens of people to the scene for eviction defense, as they did on Monday.
On April 24, two days after the first incident at Charrington’s home, Mayor Zohran Mamdani created the Mayor’s Office of Deed Theft. Standing alongside Ossé and James, he vowed to bring the “full force” of city government to stop it.
“[We will] protect homeowners, defend generational wealth and make clear that this City will not tolerate the exploitation of our communities,” the mayor said. “I am proud to appoint Peter White as the director of New York City’s first-ever Office of Deed Theft Prevention, where he will write a new story of leadership and action.”
At that same press conference, James said, “No New Yorker should have to live with the fear that their family’s home and financial stability may be stolen out from under them. Deed theft and other illegal housing schemes are fueling displacement, and we must use every tool at our disposal to stop it.”
