The ugly truth about Nouveau Native's No Fee New York and L'Abeille Publishing

Have You Seen "V.A. Macian" aka "Vivian Macian" aka Fugitive Felon Andrea Delauren?

2006-08-25T13:19:00.001-04:00

Andrea Delauren aka "V.A. Macian" aka "Alexandrea Delauren" aka "Vivian Macian" aka "Alex Macian" is currently at large in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. If you have any information as to the whereabouts of this fugitive criminal please contact me at katarii (at) gmail.com.
Thanks!

Con-Artist Andrea Delauren's Aliases

2006-08-23T17:11:00.001-04:00

Here are a few of the aliases she's used to con her victims. She frequently swaps first and last names:

Kim Babbat
Alexandrea Delauren
Alexandrea Delauren-Smith
Alexandrea Gibb
Katie Green
Peggie Hance
Alexandrea Jones
Andrea Jones
Amy Lynch
Alexandrea Macian
Alex Macian
Vivian Macian
V A Macian
Alexandrea Macian-Stewart
Emma Muir
Alexandrea Smith
Vivian Smith
Alexandrea Stewart
Maggie Vance

She also uses the first names: Allie, Allie Mac, AllieMac, and Carol Anne

How Alexandrea Delauren Got Arrested, Got Convicted, and Got Away with It

2006-06-21T16:14:00.000-04:00

I got a copy of Alex/Andrea's fake stalking book, "Stalkers Harassers & Saboteurs". Not surprisingly it's a weird plagiarized pastiche of material taken from various stalking websites mixed with stuff she just made up out of thin air. The fake "victim stories" are pretty entertaining; the rest of it isn't. But then this isn't a book that was "written" to be read. Its true purpose is simply to exist, to be searchable on google and amazon so anyone questioning Alex/Andrea's version of her past will see how she's really the "innocent victim". And because she hasn't been back to New York or anywhere else in the US since she fled the police in 2003, Alexandrea Delauren has to use restaurant menus available online and/or rewrite other people's reviews of things in NYC to make it look as though she lives there. It didn't take long to find the original sources she used to cobble together content for her http://nouveaunative.blogspot.com site. Here are a few:

Subway Inn:

Original:

red leatherette booths, linoleum tabletops and checkerboard tile floor.
http://cityguide.aol.com/newyork/ent...sbid=106968692

Alexandrea/Andrea Delauren:

Red vinyl booths, an ancient jukebox and checkerboard lino tiles
http://nouveaunative.blogspot.c om/2005/10/dive-bar-heaven.html

La Belle Vie:

Original:

vintage French advertising posters, ochre walls, hand-painted signs and sniffy waitstaff all contribute to the illusion. During warmer months, outdoor tables teem with local color, especially at brunch.

mussels marinieres are quite tasty. Entrees, including boeuf bourguignon, steak au poivre and porcini ravioli, arrive heavy on the sauce, and the kitchen is liberal with its sprinklings of salt.
http://newyork.citysearch.com/profile/7104914

Alexandrea/Andrea Delauren:

The atmosphere is perfect with vintage French advertising art on the walls, comfy chairs, and intimate tables.
All of the expected fare – boeuf bourguignon, steak au poivre, mussels marinieres are well made and severed [sic] in generous proportions [sic].

A great idea for an inexpensive introduction to La Belle Vie is the weekend brunch. Severed [sic] on both Saturday and Sunday, the $12.95 brunch menu includes a nice selection of entries, a Bloody Mary (I guess we know why Mary is Bloody with all that "severing" going on.) or Mimosa, and biscuits, If you hurry, there is still enough time to enjoy the outdoor tables.
http://nouveaunative.blogspot.com/20...r-fearful.html

Tarallucci e Vino:

Original:

By PAUL ADAMS
January 25, 2006
Start with scrippelle 'mbusse,a bowl of light, pure-tasting hen broth ($9) in which three eggy, Parmesan-filled crepes float....
and an ever-changing array of excellent gelati.....
Tarallucci e Vino, 15 E. 18th St., between Broadway and Fifth Avenue, 212-228-5400.http://www.nysun.com/article/26433

Alexandrea/Andrea Delauren:

Tarallucci e Vino
Friday, January 27, 2006 [posted 2 days after the NYSun review]
The rich, golden chicken broth enrobed delicate parmigian crepes, creating a wonderfully intoxicating aroma. By the end of dinner I felt well enough to dig into a wonderful gelato.

This inexpensive Italian coffee is destined to be a West Villagefavorite for a long time to come.
Tarallucci e Vino is located at 10th Street and First Avenue
(10th st. and 1st Ave is in the East Village not the West. The other location at 15 East 18th St. is by Union Square.)
http://nouveaunative.blogspot.com/20...ci-e-vino.html

The following restaurant is actually called "Brooklyn Diner" not "Brooklyn Dinner" -- perhaps Alex copied the misspelling from this site:
Brooklyn Diner:

Original:

Brooklyn Dinner USA A spiffy diner with tablecloths and candlelight, the Brooklyn serves highbrow renditions of ethnic comfort foods.
...and strawberry blonde cheesecake are among the choices.
With a menu offering an American cuisine, this is an upscale restaurant. Expect the average entrée to cost $12 to $20, and dress casual.
http://dinesite.com/info/rstrnt-368628/?&t=68577

Alexandrea/Andrea Delauren:

Friday, May 05, 2006
Brooklyn Dinner
Don’t let the name fool you, the Brooklyn Dinner is no greasy spoon. This restaurant takes the charm of a 50’s style dinner [sic] and some of the food favorites (hot dogs, burgers, and meatloaf) and adds a level of sophistication essential for jaded New Yorkers.
While the 15 bite hotdog is always popular as is the meatloaf and of course cheeseburgers, this is not the corner coffee shop.

The atmosphere is charming; stained glass and blonde woodwork abound and each table or booth is adorned with brass plaques listing the famous people who have also sat at that table.

(On the front page of Brooklyn Diner's website you can see a slide show of interior photos -- there's no "stained glass and blonde woodwork" at all:
http://www.brooklyndiner.com/)

While they rave over the Blonde Cheesecake, my personal favorite is the Double Layer Coconut Cake. While more expensive than the corner coffee shop the food is well worth the wait and the price.
http://nouveaunative.blogspot.com/2006/05/brooklyn-dinner.html

Then there are the "secret insider" recommendations for big chain stores like Anthropologie, Restroration [sic] Hardware, and Bed Bath and Beyond. LOL.

But my favorite post is this next one:
http://nouveaunative.blogspot.com/2006/06/do-you-feel-safer.html

I assume it's supposed to be some kind of a warning or threat and its intended audience is me. I'm flattered, really.

You see, the copy of "Stalkers Harassers & Saboteurs" I have in my possession was ordered at the Barnes and Noble located at 1441 West Webster Avenue in Chicago. *Cue scary horror movie music*

How could Alexandrea (or Andrea or Vivian or whatever her name really is) know where my copy was ordered? Probably because I'm the only person in the world who would be interested in examining it. To date, there have been zero sold on amazon.com.

Am I worried that Alex/Andrea/Whatever knows where it was ordered? Nope, not in the least (Sorry Alex).

Am I amused? Yes, very much so. I also found her oddball bogus anecdote about the security at Chicago schools she supposedly visited laugh out loud funny. Psst, Alex, there is no "Columbus University" in Chicago. Maybe you meant "Columbia College"? You might want to alert your "several younger family members entering college" lest they accidentally wind up in Ohio.

I anxiously await the incorporation of my corrections into Alex/Andrea's fake blog. Go to it, Alex! Knock yourself out.

Update June 25th:
LOL! Alex/Andrea thought she was making a correction and changed "Columbus University" to "Columbia University" and then indirectly thanked me for pointing it out to her:

Alexandrea/Andrea Delauren:

ps. thanks to Iris and Maureen for emailing us about the typo. It's been corrected, thanks for reading our little blog!

National Center for Victims of Crime forces felon, Alexandrea Delauren, to remove link

2006-06-03T15:15:00.000-04:00

The National Center for Victims of Crime forced fugitive felon con-artist, Alexandrea Delauren, to take down the link to their site.

As I wrote on May 2nd, this convicted criminal had the temerity to use NCVC on her website in a transparent attempt to lend credence to her ploy. She can't talk her way out of the fact that her crimes are public record, so right on cue she tries to create a diversion by claiming that she herself is the victim. Again.

She did the same thing back in 2003, outrageously telling a reporter from the New York Post that Craig Newmark of craigslist.org was the criminal mastermind behind her scam company called "Practically Rented":

"I have been scammed, taken advantage of and duped," she said.
She pointed to Craig Newmark, owner of craigslist.com, as an owner of the company.
Newmark denied owning the company and said his involvment was limited to removing defamatory posts from his Web site.
"There are many brokers who aren't completely ethical who do really wrong things and we're trying to do something about it," he said.

For someone who lies as pathologically and often as she does, she sure is bad at it. Of course it does work once in a while and that's what she banks on.

technorati: propertygrunt property grunt L Abeille Publishing LAbeille Publishing nouveau native nouveau natives scam fraud aiv andrea delauren alexandrea delauren New York City Apartments no fee Manhattan Renting NYC landlords management companies Nouveau Native Guides Nouveau Native's Guide To NYC No Fee Guide To NYC No Fee New York Rental Guide

Solidarity in Fighting Scams: Take that Barbara Bauer

2006-05-30T20:47:00.000-04:00

Scam hunting isn't easy, and scammers, like cockroaches, don't like it when you flip on the light switch and expose them. Recently, one of these insects, Barbara Bauer, made her displeasure known to JC-Hosting, the hosting company of Absolutewrite.com, and JC-Hosting pulled the plug on the site.

This was a very stupid move on both Barbara Bauer's part and the hosting company's. The folks at Absolutewrite are working hard to get the site up and running again shortly. The Bewares and Background Checks forum isn't going away no matter how much Ms. Bauer kicks and screams.

If you want to help, donations can be made via paypal at Jenna Glatzer's blog: http://jennaglatzer.blogspot.com/2006/05/need-help.html

Please contribute whatever you can afford. I have, although I wish it could've been more, every little bit helps. If you've ever been the victim of a scam you know how important it is to keep the information available at absolutewrite.com alive on the web.

technorati: Barbara Bauer BarbaraBauer

Alexandrea Delauren's "Stalkers Harassers & Saboteurs" or "What To Do When Your Con Victims Figure You Out"

2006-05-29T14:36:00.000-04:00

Stalkers Harassers & Saboteurs offers fascinating insights into the criminal mind, May 25, 2006

Reviewer:

catchmeifyoucan - See all my reviews

of the author.

If you can look beyond the book's clunky confusing prose and egregious spelling, grammatical, and factual errors you'll find a good primer on how to protect yourself from the annoying accusations and potentially damaging formal complaints lodged by your employees who haven't been paid and your irate customers who haven't received their state mandated refunds after you skipped town with their cash.

As any seasoned con-artist will tell you, the worst thing that can happen is when your victims figure out what you've been up to. The effects of having your history of fraud discovered can be devastating. This book shows you what you can do when your aliases and felonies are revealed by your victims. It indirectly includes many practical tips on how to turn things around by pretending to be the victim yourself. You may not be able to convince everyone that your crime victims are actually stalkers but you might find a few gullibly sympathetic people that you can exploit to your advantage. Remember, it only takes a few and you'll be all set to stay in "business". As the author points out, it's not your fault, even if the media, law enforcement, and your numerous con victims unreasonably insist otherwise.

Some minor quibbles:
pages 294 to 446 are reproduced word for word from this website: http://esia.net/State_Stalking_Laws.htm, so 152 pages of the book's total (449 pages) are padding, but that still leaves the reader with 297 pages that are at least somewhat original in that they are reworded. Pages 183 to 260 are, for the most part, a repeat of pages 143 to 182 with title headings and content printed 3 times, much like "The Nouveau Native's No Fee New York" and "The Nouveau Native's No Fee New York with Pets", but that's still a net of 182 pages out of 449 of marginally new material you won't see anywhere else unless you have an internet connection.

That said, even with the many copied pages, terms, and ideas from http://esia.net mixed in with the author's specific agenda, Stalkers Harassers & Saboteurs presents a uniquely twisted and underrepresented view into the world of the con-artist as pseudo-victim. I highly recommend it*.

*If you're a criminal on the run.

technorati: Alexandrea Delauren Alexandrea Stewart Alexandrea Macian Vivian Smith Vivian Macian V A Macian Alexandrea Delauren-Smith Andrea Delauren con artist PracticallyRented Associated Owners Practically Sold Uptown Downtown Realty 4rent magazine Practically Rented L Abeille Publishing LAbeille Publishing nouveau native nouveau natives nouveau natives no fee nouveau natives no fee new york Stalkers Harassers & Saboteurs stalkers harassers & saboteurs scam fraud aiv UDRealty 4rentmagazine New York City Apartments no fee Manhattan Renting NYC landlords management companies craigslist Nouveau Native Guides Nouveau Native's Guide To NYC No Fee Guide To NYC No Fee New York Rental Guide

"Money & More" Radio Show: Alexandrea Delauren, Con-Artist

2006-05-20T23:35:00.000-04:00

On nationally broadcast talk-radio show: Money & More -- hosts David Latko (financial guru and author) and Earl Merkel (bestselling novelist and professional iconoclast) interview Michael A. Black, street-savvy police sergeant and author, a legendary figure among crime writers and novelists- for many of them, he's the go-to guy when they need factual information on a particularly sticky point of police procedure or insight to the criminal mind:

"...Mike, recently there was a flurry of news inside the writing community about a so-called publishing company which called itself L'Abeille Publishing."

"That's among the latest examples," Michael nods. "As it turns out, this L'Abeille operation was being run by a woman who had been convicted of real estate fraud: Alexandrea Stewart, also known as Andrea Delauren among several other aliases. She was a con artist who was going after would-be writers who want desperately to get published. They'd be charged for all kinds of services, with the promise they would become published authors."

"The point is, this kind of scam is all over the place, isn't it?" David asks. "People pose as `real' publishers and `real' literary agents, and they take money from hopeful people and destroy their dreams. How can a writer tell the difference between these crooks and legitimate agents and publishers?"

"The rule of thumb is that `money should flow to the writer," Michael says. "Real agents only get their money when they actually sell an author's book to a publisher. And legitimate publishers pay authors, not the other way around."

technorati: Alexandrea Delauren Alexandrea Stewart Alexandrea Macian Vivian Smith Vivian Macian V A Macian Alexandrea Delauren-Smith Andrea Delauren PracticallyRented Associated Owners Practically Sold Uptown Downtown Realty 4rent magazine Practically Rented L Abeille Publishing LAbeille Publishing nouveau native nouveau natives nouveau natives no fee nouveau natives no fee new york Stalkers Harassers & Saboteurs stalkers harassers & saboteurs scam fraud aiv UDRealty 4rentmagazine New York City Apartments no fee Manhattan Renting NYC landlords management companies craigslist Nouveau Native Guides Nouveau Native's Guide To NYC No Fee Guide To NYC No Fee New York Rental Guide

Property Grunt: Call the DA's office in LaCrosse, Wisconsin

2006-05-16T18:49:00.000-04:00

"Property Grunt: Mind your business."

Alexandrea Delauren is a career criminal but propertygrunt needn't take my word for it. I'd like to invite him to talk to Maureen Hickey himself. I'll be happy to provide him with her email and telephone number so he can verify that everything on this site is the absolute truth. I imagine he would feel he owes it to his readers to find out, wouldn't he?

I certainly hope he wasn't referring to my email to him when he said:

"This has occurred on several occasions where a reader has sent me a nasty email about why someone I have written in a positive light is really a person or group with less than honorable intentions."

Here's what I sent to propertygrunt:

Hi propertygrunt,
As a victim of this author/publisher/con-artist, I think you should be aware of the real story behind this book/company:

here's a link to the entire thread:
http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30098

This link is for the following post:
http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showpost.php?p=585601&postcount=66

(I included the text of Jenna's post above in my email -- omitted here to save space)

I was surprised that I never received a reply to my email nor was I allowed to post a comment on propertygrunt's site. Propertygrunt, however, is most welcome to reply here in the comments and I will post whatever he has to say.

(Note: I submitted another comment today on propertygrunt.blogspot.com but it was not approved)

technorati: propertygrunt property grunt L Abeille Publishing LAbeille Publishing nouveau native nouveau natives scam fraud aiv alexandrea macian andrea delauren alexandrea delauren New York City Apartments no fee Manhattan Renting NYC landlords management companies Nouveau Native Guides Nouveau Native's Guide To NYC No Fee Guide To NYC No Fee New York Rental Guide

Literary Parasites: L'Abeille Publishing's Alexandrea Delauren

2006-05-14T16:46:00.001-04:00

"I wish I had a magic button so that every time someone declared for the first time, 'I think I want to be a writer,' a copy of The Street-Smart Writer would descend gracefully into the person's lap" says Jenna Glatzer. "I know I could save a lot more people from trouble if I could get them to read it before they get all starry-eyed over some slick agent who runs a paid editing service on the side, or publisher with a lousy contract. It's harder to reach people after they've already bought into the fantasy. They need to know ahead of time how to read through the BS, how to research agents and publishers, how to spot the warning signs."

And Jenna should know. As Editor-in-Chief of Absolute Write and author of The Street-Smart Writer, Jenna has seen—and busted—some of the literary field's most unscrupulous members.

"I helped expose another criminal trying to get into the publishing business this week. It's wild how many psychopathic nutbars think they should be agents and publishers," she says. Her experience, dubbed "The Wild and Wooly Story of L'Abeille Publishing" reads like something straight out of True Crime.

"Now, normally we scam-hunters don't find out about the crooked folk until they've already done some serious damage-- that is, they've already attracted a bunch of writers and gotten into their wallets, and enough time has elapsed that a few of those writers realize they've been had, and they care enough to come forward and blow the whistle" Jenna explains.

"But this time happened differently. "Someone came onto the Absolute Write Forums and asked about a new publisher called L'Abeille Publishing. Did any of us know anything about the company? Nope. Then a new member, katari, showed up with dire warnings about a woman who had been convicted of real estate fraud: Alexandrea Stewart, also known as Andrea Delauren and a few other aliases.

"It wasn't clear how this woman was related to L'Abeille-- but right away, I began getting desperate e-mails from Alexandrea, begging me to take down the warnings about her. She explained that she'd had a stalker for many years now who wrecked her marriage, made her go bankrupt, etc.

"At first, I didn't know whose story to believe, and the forum visitors didn't trust our anonymous tipster. But I knew that The Truth had to be hiding somewhere. Victoria Strauss and I invited Alexandrea and katari to fill in the details for us, then we followed the trails.

"In short, the woman running this new publishing company (which has so far published only books that she's written herself, anonymously) is a convicted felon who's run multiple con games before, has fled town to skip out of paying employees, is wanted for burglary in California, has failed to pay restitution to her victims in Wisconsin… the list goes on and on." (You can read the full story of The Wild and Wooly Story of L'Abeille Publishing.)

"In the beginning of my writing career," Jenna says, "I was taken in by a screenwriting agent named Mark Maine who charged me a couple of hundred bucks as an up-front retainer. At the time, I had no idea that this wasn't normal. After a month or so, I asked Mark where he was submitting my script. He refused to tell me, and said it was because every time he told writers where their work had been submitted, they would call the producers and muck up the deal.

"I didn't want to talk about it. I don't think I mentioned it anywhere for a long time, because I was embarrassed. Even though I was active on a few screenwriters' forums, I didn't jump up and down to say, "Hey, everybody! I got scammed!" Why? Well… because I didn't want to look stupid. I was trying to be a professional writer, and I thought this would make me look very amateurish.

"It took me a while to see the bigger picture," Jenna says. "Con artists depend on that embarrassment. They know that most people who figure out the score are just going to walk away quietly. Then the con artists can just move on to the next victim and the next. And by keeping quiet, I was letting this cycle continue. At the time it happened, I still wasn't entirely positive that it even was a scam—I just knew that I didn't trust the guy. I found out later that he was also referring people to paid editing services and getting kickbacks.

"That's part of what fuels me today to be so stubborn with the Bewares & Background Checks board. I'm so thankful when people come forward to share their experiences so others don't get taken. I know it's hard to do. It feels like, 'I should have known better. I don't want to advertise my naivety.' But the only way we're going to stop these crooks is to make sure that writers find out about them before they sign.

"Luckily, I'm building a small army of street-smart writers. Literary parasites really should just give up quietly while they can."

How can you protect yourself? Read Jenna Glatzer's book The Street-Smart Writer, and log into Absolute Write.

PropertyGrunt gets Played by the Nouveau Natives Crook

2006-05-12T16:17:00.000-04:00

PropertyGrunt has been made aware of the fact that he is promoting the fugitive criminal who wrote the Nouveau Native's No Fee New York guides. I did a search on blogger and found that he had blogged about Andrea/Alexandrea Delauren/Stewart's nouveaunative blog but then removed that post from his site. Only his review remains. Hmm... I wonder why he took one down and left the other up:

Sorted by relevance - Sort by date
2 posts matching no-fee-new-york blogurl:propertygrunt.blogspot.com - showing 1 through 2

No Fee New York: The book
26 Apr 2006 by Grunt - References

The Nouveau Native's No Fee New York 2006 is the latest NYC guide franchise to hit the streets. The book address all of the insanity of renting an apartment including financial realities, which covers all the bases including what...
Property Grunt - http://propertygrunt.blogspot.com

No Fee New York: The blog
18 Apr 2006 by Grunt

Introducing the No Fee New York blog. Read and enjoy folks. Spring is now upon us and I am curious to see if the good weather will bring more buyers to the fold. Will Manhattan avoid the iceberg or will we go down like the rest of the...
Property Grunt - http://propertygrunt.blogspot.com

--Edited: Monday, May 15th - Hmm... He's put the previously removed post back up today. This is getting really mysterious:
http://propertygrunt.blogspot.com/2006/04/no-fee-new-york-blog.html

No Fee New York: The blog
Introducing the No Fee New York blog. Read and enjoy folks.

Spring is now upon us and I am curious to see if the good weather will bring more buyers to the fold. Will Manhattan avoid the iceberg or will we go down like the rest of the markets?
posted by Grunt at 8:13 AM | 0 comments

--Another update: Propertygrunt loses it.

technorati: propertygrunt property grunt L Abeille Publishing LAbeille Publishing nouveau native nouveau natives scam fraud aiv andrea delauren alexandrea delauren New York City Apartments no fee Manhattan Renting NYC landlords management companies Nouveau Native Guides Nouveau Native's Guide To NYC No Fee Guide To NYC No Fee New York Rental Guide

Alexandrea Delauren aka Vivian Smith: Fugitive in California

2006-05-09T19:08:00.000-04:00

Case FWV022060 Defendant 995543 SMITH, VIVIAN

Arrest Charges
Count	Charge	Severity	Description	Violation Date	Plea
1	PC 182(A)(1)	F	CONSPIRACY: COMMIT CRIME	02/06/2001
Filed Charges
Count	Charge	Severity	Description	Violation Date	Plea
1	PC 459	F	BURGLARY	02/06/2001
2	PC 475(A)	F	POSSESS COMPLETED CHECK W/INTENT TO DEFRAUD	02/06/2001	GUILTY
Certified Charges
Count	Charge	Severity	Description	Violation Date	Plea
1	PC 459	F	BURGLARY	02/06/2001
2	PC 475(A)	F	POSSESS COMPLETED CHECK W/INTENT TO DEFRAUD	02/06/2001	GUILTY

Case FWV022060 Defendant 995543 SMITH, VIVIAN

Action: 859A PC SENTENCING
Date: 04/06/2001
Time: 10:00 AM
Division: R8
Hearing Status: DISPOSED

J MICHAEL GUNN
CLERK S KING
REPORTER H MOORE
DEPUTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY W ABBOTT PRESENT.
ATTORNEY JIM SPROUSE NOT PRESENT.
DEFENDANT NOT PRESENT.
-
PROCEEDINGS
ACTION CAME ON FOR SENTENCING.
-
COURT HAS READ AND CONSIDERED MEMO DATED 03/28/01 FROM PROBATION.
DEFENDANT FAILS TO APPEAR AS PREVIOUSLY ORDERED.
OR REVOKED.
BENCH WARRANT ISSUED. BAIL SET AT $20000.00. MAY NOT FORFEIT. REASON: 2-FTA ON COURT ORDER
-
CUSTODY STATUS
CASE CUSTODY - FUGITIVE
PROBATION OFFICE NOTIFIED.
============= MINUTE ORDER END ================

Apartment Hunting 101 by MrsCG

2006-05-09T16:27:00.000-04:00

This excellent breakdown on apartment hunting was originally posted on the New York craigslist housing forum, but the search function is no longer working for posts beyond a few months, so I'm putting it here where people can find it again. Courtesy of MrsCG:

1. Timing is Crucial
The housing market is very competitive, especially for those hard-to-find affordable apartments. Be prepared to make decisions quickly since it is not unusual for units to turnover in a single day. Start your search no earlier than four weeks before your desired move-in date and be flexible by a week or two with your plans. Make apartment hunting your life for two or three weeks - that should be enough time to get familiar with the market and what you are looking for.

2. Focus Your Search According to Your Budget
New York City is an expensive housing market and you will likely be forced to make compromises in your choice. Monthly rents will vary depending on several factors; the most important of which is location, followed by apartment size and then amenities.

Consider Where You Can Afford to Live - Manhattan apartments are in the greatest demand and consequently rents are the highest here compared to other boroughs or nearby suburbs. In most areas of Manhattan, you will have great difficulty finding a studio apartment for less than $1,400-1,500 per month. In contrast, there are areas just outside Manhattan (within a 30-40 minute commute) where you can find a decent studio apartment to rent for $850-1,000 per month.

Determine What Size Apartment Fits Your Budget and What Amenities You Can Do Without - Squeezing into a smaller apartment than your ideal and a willingness to accept some commonly perceived flaws such as lack of view or natural light, street noise, etc., may save you some money. In addition, rents will vary with the type of building in which the apartment is located such as, whether or not the building has a doorman or an elevator.

Decide If You Are Willing To Share An Apartment - You can sometimes cut costs by sharing a large one bedroom, where you can build a wall in the living room to create a second bedroom for your roommate (management allowing, of course).

3. Methods of Searching - Fee v. No Fee Rentals
If you can afford to pay a broker's fee, searching with a broker is highly recommended for convenience and is the most common way of finding an apartment. Brokers often have access to good rental options, can guide you in your search, and make the paperwork easy for you.

Brokers charge a commission for their services. In Manhattan, expect to pay between 12-18% of the year's rent, typically 15% of the year's rent as a commission. That means if your rent is $1,000 a month, the broker's fee works out to $1,000 x 12 x 15%, or $1,800. Fees outside of Manhattan are usually less, ranging from one month's rent to 12% of the year's rent. The fee is payable only at the time of lease signing.
If you prefer not to pay a broker's fee, "no fee" searching options include:

Classified Ads - look in the following publications for ads that say "no fee" or "by owner" as well as ads for sublets and share: The Village Voice, Loot, The New York Times.

Landlords and Management Companies - Call directly and ask for a list of their vacancies. Some apartment guides that contain contact information for these companies include Gabriel's Guide to Apartment Hunting and Manhattan For Sale or Rent - 3 editions - Downtown, Upper East Side and Upper West Side.

Online Search Sites - Craig's list, NYT.com

Word-of-mouth and Walking Around - walk around the neighborhood where you would like to live and speak to doormen, check bulletin boards and "for rent" signs.

4. Financial Requirements and What to Bring on Your Apartment Search
In order to rent an apartment, you will be asked to complete an application form by your prospective landlord. You may also be required to pay between $50-$200 for credit reports and / or application fees.
Landlords are mainly concerned with you and / or your guarantor having steady income and good credit.

Financial Requirements - Most landlords require that the prospective tenant have an income equal to 40-45 times the monthly rent in annual salary (combined income is used for roommates). You and your roommate will need to have all of your income verification paperwork readily available upon application for an apartment.

If you are a full time student or do not meet all the financial requirements, most landlords will require a lease co-signer or guarantor. A guarantor is an individual, typically a family member, who preferably lives in New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut. Guarantors are asked to disclose detailed financial information and have a credit report run on them as part of the approval process. The guarantor's income needs to be at least 75 times the monthly rent and they will also need to submit the paperwork listed below.

Funds - When the landlord approves your apartment application, be prepared to pay the first month's rent and the security deposit upon lease signing. Most landlords require that these funds be paid in the form of separate certified checks or money orders. Landlords will not accept personal checks or credit cards. An additional certified check or money order will be required at the time of lease signing to pay the broker's fee, if applicable.

Necessary Documents - Bring the following items with you when you start looking for apartments:

Letter from your current employer stating your salary or from CPA if freelance or business owner

First two pages of last year's tax return

Most recent bank statement(s), bank account numbers and credit card numbers

Most recent pay stub(s)

names, addresses and phone numbers of previous landlords

Names, addresses and phone numbers of personal and business references

Photo I.D. such as driver's license or passport

5. Lease Signing
Leases are important for clarification of the responsibilities of the landlord and tenant. If you don't have a lease, the landlord could ask you to leave or raise your rent on short notice. In addition, factors such as when your rent is due, if pets are allowed and who is responsible for maintenance need to be clear. The type of lease you will be asked to sign can vary with the type of apartment and building in which it is located. Any changes to the standard lease are usually included in a separate lease rider. Leases are for one or two years and generally begin on the 1st or the 15th of the month.

Typically, the apartment will be located in a rental building that is owned by a landlord and all of the apartments are available for lease. These buildings may be protected by rent regulations. A rent regulated apartment is subject to limits on the amount that owners can raise the rent for vacant apartments and renewals of existing leases. A tenant in a rent regulated apartment has the right to renew the lease indefinitely and the right to sublease the apartment with the landlord's permission.
For more information about rent regulated apartments, visit the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR). Non regulated apartments are known as market rate. They are easier to find and more expensive than rent regulated apartments.

http://forums.craigslist.org/?ID=10188644

Check out the companion to this guide, my Free No Fee New York Apartment List with Websites and Contact Information of Landlords and Management Companies

technorati: New York City Apartments no fee Manhattan Renting NYC landlords management companies

Nouveau Native's Nightmare: L'Abeille Publishing on Gawker.com

2006-05-08T02:32:00.000-04:00

This just in from www.gawker.com:

• The saga of L’Abeille Publishing: tangled, convoluted, and involving real estate. It’s what Barbara Corcoran tells her kids when they want a scary bedtime story. [Absolutewrite]

Free No Fee NYC Apartment List: Websites and Contact Information for Landlords and Management Companies

2006-05-05T23:23:00.000-04:00

Here's a list to help you find a no fee apartment in New York City. I'll keep adding to this, so if you have links, feel free to send them in. Prices reflect what I found at the time of this post. Apartments move quickly in New York, so your mileage may vary.

(Brooklyn info updated on May 30th, 2006 -- many thanks to Carol W. for the help!)

A. Michael Tyler Realty Corp.
122 East 42nd St., Suite 1700
New York, NY 10168
Contact: Irwin H. Cohen
877-641-5900
fax 877-641-5780

Algin Management Company
Gramercy, UES, UWS
300 Mercer Street
(212) 979-6297

www.abingtonproperties.com
No fee in over thirty buildings in Tribeca, Soho, Greenwich Village, Gramercy Park, the Flatiron District, and the Upper East Side.
$1,595 and up.

www.ajclarkenyc.com
AJ Clarke Real Estate Corp.
1881 Broadway
New York, NY 10023
212.541.5522 x50
$1,350 and up.

Ador Housing and Development, LLC
5318 New Utrecht Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11219
Contact: Lazer Spira
718 972-8700
fax 718-972-1600

AFC Management Inc.
5414 New Utrecht Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11219
Contact: Ari Farkas
718-436-9655
fax 718-686-6964
* Co-ops only!

AKAM Associates, Inc.
8 West 38th St.
New York, NY 10018
Contact: Michael Berenson
212-986-0001
fax 212-986-0002

Algin Management Co. LLC
64-35 Yellowstone Blvd.
Forest Hills, NY 11375
Contact: Mark Schulman
718-896-9600
fax 718-997-8084
* Manhattan only! 212-448-9400

Andrea Bunis Management, Inc.
45 West 45th St., Suite 901
New York, NY 10036
Contact: Andrea Bunis
212-302-5544
fax 212-302-6341

Andrews Building Corp.
666 Broadway, 12th floor
New York, NY 10012
Contact: Eugene Andrews, President
212-529-5688
fax 212-302-6341

Argo Corp., The
50 West 17th St., 7th Fl.
New York, NY 10011
Contact: Lynn Whiting
212-896-8624
fax 212-896-8667

ASM Estates, Inc.
155 West 20th St., Suite 1
New York, NY 10011
Contact: Ari Moskowitz
212-206-9939
fax 212-206-9949

www.ataenterprises.com
No fee luxury apartments for rent in New York City.

www.bettinaequities.com
Over 40 no fee properties with 2000 units in the Upper East Side, Upper West Side, Clinton, Murray Hill, Union Square, Gramercy Park, and the East Village.
$1,550 and up.

ATM Real Estate
7810 34th Avenue
Jackson Heights, NY 11372
Contact: Albert Torres
718-205-8901
fax 718-205-8867
* Kew Gardens, Forest Hills, Jackson Heights mainly

Babad Management Co.
P.O. Box 313, Parkville Station
Brooklyn, NY 11204
Contact: Chaim Babad
718-633-7586
fax 718-633-7355
* Canarsie, Ocean Avenue, 4th Avenue (Midwood, Flatbush/Kensington, basically)

Bellmarc Property Management
352 Park Ave. South, 9th Fl.
New York, NY 10010
Contact: John Janangelo
212-252-1900, ext. 304
fax 212-252-1433

www.bigapplenyc.com
Big Apple Management
No fee in Hell's Kitchen and the UES.
$1550 and up.

Bldg Management Corporation
UES, UWS, WV, Chelsea, Gramercy
52 Vanderbilt Avenue
Call rental agent at (212) 557-6700

BPC Management Corp.
80 Livingston St.
Brooklyn, NY 11201-5009
Contact: Doug Rosenberg
718-852-1616
fax 718-596-4873
* No Greenpoint or Williamsburg

BRM Realty
1561 Central Park Ave.
Yonkers, NY 10710
Contact: Lorraine Zapia
914-961-8100
fax 914-961-0802

www.brodskyorg.com
No fee luxury buildings on the West Side, East Side, Midtown, and Battery Park.
$1,800 and up.

Buchbinder & Warren
One Union Square West
New York, NY 10034
Contact: Rosemary Paparo
212-243-6722
fax 212-645-0985

Caran Properties, Inc.
150 East 58th St.
New York, NY 10155-2798
Contact: Sherry Frankel
212-207-8118
fax 212-207-8976

Carlyle Construction Corp
No fee in Midtown and the UES.
$2000 and up.

Carole Ferrara Assoc., Inc.
80 East 11th St.
New York, NY 10003
Contact: Carole Ferrara
212-475-8811
fax 212-995-1647

Century Management
7 Penn Plaza, Suite 1400
New York, NY 10001
Contact: Mitchell Barry
212-560-6400
fax 212-560-6420

Charles H. Greenthal Management Corp.
4 Park Ave.
New York, NY 10016
Contact: Jonathan West
212-340-9300
fax 212-447-1667

Citadel Property Management
530 East 13th Street
New York, NY 10009
Contact: Michael Crespo
646-654-0722
fax 646-654-0723

City and Suburban
UES
511 East 78 Street
(212) 517-3000

Coney Realty
1499 Coney Island Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11230
Contact: Ephraim Nierenberg
718-338-2010
fax 718-338-7900
* Mostly Bensonhurst, Sheepshead Bay

www.coopersquare.com
Cooper Square Realty, Inc.
6 East 43rd St.
New York, NY 10017
Contact: David Kuperberg
212-634-8900
No fee in Battery Park, Carnegie Hill, East Village, Gramercy Park, Lower Eastside, Midtown East, Midtown West, Upper East Side, Upper West Side, and Riverdale.
$1,200(Riverdale), $1,550(Manhattan) and up.

Dakko Property Management Inc.
587 Beck Street
Bronx, NY 10455
718-993-0838
Upper Manhattan
$1150 (studio), $1200 (2 br) and up.

David Frankel Realty, Inc.
160 East 65th St.
New York, NY 10021
Contact: Suz Landi
212-772-7600
fax 212-772-8163

Delkap Management. Inc.
82-12 151st Ave.
Howard Beach, NY 11414
Contact: Pamela DeLorme
718-848-6488
fax 718-845-1642

Delta Management
805 Third Ave., Suite 1100
New York, NY 10022
Contact: John Bush
212-753-6407
fax 212-758-9796

Dome Property Management
109 Winant Pl.
Staten Island, NY 10309
Contact: Michael Motelson
718-605-2500
fax 718-605-2654

Downtown Properties, Inc.
270 Lafayette St., Suite 506
New York, NY 10012
Contact: Richard Bassik
212-334-4400
fax 212-334-4487

Duell Management

East Midtown Plaza Housing
319 East 24th St.
New York, NY 10010
Contact: Vivian Robinson
212-679-4342
fax 212-689-7635

East Village Development Corp
A small selection of no fee apartments in the East Village.
$2500 (2br) and up.

www.eberhartbros.com
Very nice no fee apartments on the Upper East Side and Upper West Side.
$1495 and up.

Elite Management, Inc.
137-11 Booth Memorial Ave.
Flushing, NY 11355
Contact: Bob Mozilo
718-939-1493
fax 718-939-1693
* These people are very nice! They said they might have something in Astoria or LIC, but were very kind and cooperative…what a breath of fresh air.

Esquire Management Corp.
1716 Coney Island Avenue - 4th Floor
Brooklyn, NY 11230
Contact: Stephen Elbaz
718-375-5900
fax 718-375-5925
* Yes, G’point and W’burg, but no foreseeable availabilities!

ETC Management Corp.
71 West 23rd St., 6th Fl.
New York, NY 10010
Contact: Ed Coviello
212-727-0700
fax 212-727-1648

General Property Management
250 West 57th St.
New York, NY 10107
Contact: Jeff Brown
212-757-5180
fax 212-713-0907
Midtown no fee.
$2,100 and up.

George A. Bowman, Inc.
36 West 44th St., Suite 810
New York, NY 10036
Contact: Frederic Sasse, President & Christina Vitale, Vic
212-840-0930
fax 212-302-8131

Gerard J. Picaso, Inc.
1133 Broadway
New York, NY 10010-7902
Contact: Gerard J. Picaso
212-807-6969
fax 212-691-3850

Gerard Ragone Real Estate
236 West 10th St.
New York, NY 10014
Contact: Gerard Ragone
212-691-4753
fax 212-243-0889

Gershon & Co.
312 West 55th St.
New York, NY 10019
Contact: Robert Gershon
212-315-1717
fax 212-581-4546

www.glenwoodnyc.com
Luxury no fee in Gracie Point(UES from 84th to 96th and from 1st Ave. to the East River), Upper East Side, Midtown, Downtown, and the Westside.
$2,650 and up.

Goldfarb Properties
Luxury no fee on the UES and Midtown West.

Goodstein Management, Inc.
211 East 46th St., 5th Fl.
New York, NY 10017
Contact: Samuel B. Lewis
212-376-8600
fax 212-486-3593

Gotham Residential
Luxury no fee in Midtown West.

William Gottlieb
WV
558 Hudson Street
(212) 989-3100
Lists ads weekly in Village Voice.

Gramatan Management Inc.
2 Hamilton Ave., Suite 217
New Rochelle, NY 10801
Contact: Bram Fierstein
914-654-1414
fax 914-654-1444

Grenadier Realty Corp
1230 Pennsylvania Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11239
Contact: Jane H. Krieger
718-240-4100
fax 718-642-2187
* “FILL OUT AN APPLICATION…BRONX ONLY.” These people were assholes! The woman I spoke to, Jane Krieger, was so mean in the two seconds I spoke with her, I wanted to break the phone off her head. Sheesh!

Gumley-Haft
415 Madison Ave., 5th Fl.
New York, NY 10017
Contact: Daniel Wollman
212-371-2525
fax 212-371-2896

H.J. Kalikow & Co., Inc.
101 Park Ave.
New York, NY 10178
Contact: Dorothy Vermeer
212-808-7163
fax 212-293-0758

Halstead Management
770 Lexington Ave.
New York, NY 10021
Contact: Paul Gottsegen
212-508-7335
fax 212-508-6230

Hoffman Management
300 West 55th St.
New York, NY 10019
Contact: Mark Hoffman
212-247-4975
fax 212-262-6335

Hudson Companies
Luxury no fee in Midtown West, East Village, and the Lower East Side.

Hudson View Associates, Inc.
159-00 Riverside Drive West, Suite 1M-70
New York, NY 10032
Contact: Steven Gold
212-928-0508
fax 212-740-4921

Hydra Buildings
Older no fee buildings in Midtown West and the Upper East Side. Pets are allowed.

I. Neuman & Sons, Inc.
122 East 42nd St., Rm. 3008
New York, NY 10168
Contact: Peter Harris
212-867-0683
fax 212-867-0648

Impact Real Estate Management
111-17 A Roosevelt Ave.
Flushing, NY 11368
Contact: Gregory A. Cohen
718-898-0190
fax 718-898-3582
* Avenue U and thereabouts only!

International Home Realty Service
10 East 39th St., Suite 531
New York, NY 10016-0111
Contact: Beverly Chan
212-972-5330
fax 212-697-9591

Joseph Jackson, Esq.
West Village building owner with apartments occasionally available.
(212) 255-6925.

Jakobson Properties
www.nofeerentals.com
Lots of stuff in the Village, East Village, Lower East Side, Upper East Side, Upper West Side, Long Island City, and Astoria. They also have a large selection of reasonably priced sublets on their website.
$1350 and up.

What does “No Fee” really mean?

If you've been hunting for a rental apartment or lived in a rental apartment in New York City, especially Manhattan, you know that New York City rental apartment brokers charge considerable fees. So do apartment information vendors or "AIVs".
Rental apartment information vendors provide rental apartment seekers with a list of available rental apartments. But AIV's often copy these apartment listings straight from classified ads in local newspapers or from websites like ours. Then they charge you upwards of $150.00 per month for their services. Unfortunately, the listings are sometimes stale and inaccurate.
nofeerentals.com - owned and operated by Jakobson Properties, LLC, a third generation family business located in downtown Manhattan near New York University -- owns the buildings you'll see listed on the site. We rent apartments -- short term and long term -- directly to you with no middleman.
We update our availablities five days a weeks, and we indicate the date and time of the latest update at the top of the listings page.
But best of all, our list is completely free. Visit as often as you like and see what's new. That's what "No Fee" should mean!

JAL Diversified Management Corp.
9437 Shore Rd.
Brooklyn, NY 11209
Contact: John Lipuma
718-745-3500
fax 718-745-3220
* Condos, mostly, but said they might have something in Clinton Hill…?

~~Jalen Management Company~~
70-18 Fort Hamilton Parkway
Brooklyn, NY 11228
Contact: Paula Zacharakos
718-439-6464
fax 718-439-1377
* Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, Dyker Heights, and one property in Park Slope, BUT…they also charge a Broker’s Fee!

JEMB Realty
Midtown @
Herald Towers
50 West 34th Street
New York, 10001
Contact Rental Agent at: (212)736-5700.
Furnished - Extension 214
Unfurnished - Extension 209 or 216

Jerome Belson Assoc., Inc.
495 Broadway
New York, NY 10012-4457
Contact: Aaron Silberman
212-941-9500
fax 212-941-9764

John J. Grogan & Assoc. Inc./ Grogan Homes
360 Lexington Ave.
New York, NY 10017
Contact: Timothy Grogan
212-370-1480
fax 212-697-2180

Jordan Cooper & Assoc., Inc.
7 Penn Plaza, 14th Floor
New York, NY 10001
Contact: Paul T. Brensilber
212-613-4602
fax 212-888-0414

JR Properties
No fee in Upper Manhattan and the West Village.
$975 and up.

Just Management
103-26 68th Road
Forest Hills, NY 11375
Contact: Judith Dix
718-275-7400
fax 718-275-0609
* These folks are EXACTLY as their name says…JUST MANAGEMENT. They don’t rent.

Justis Properties Management Corp.
18 East 12th St. Suite 1C
New York, NY 10003
Contact: Marjorie Otter
212-807-7700
fax 212-807-7719

www.kandrrealty.com
No fee in Harlem, Washington Heights, Hamilton Heights, East Village, and the Upper West Side (Manhattan Valley)
$838.00 and up.

Kassis Management, Inc.
141 East 45th St.
New York, NY 10017
Contact: Henry Kassis
212-687-7300
fax 212-687-8272

Kenbar Group
Luxury no fee on the Upper East Side.

Key Real Estate
116 John St.
New York, NY 10038
Contact: Phil Whalen
212-233-1700
fax 212-233-6455

Kizner Assoc., Inc.
144 West 72nd St.
New York, NY 10023
Contact: Joseph Kizner
212-873-0368
fax 212-874-1242

Fannie Klein
Owns several buildings on the UES (dilapidated but cheap). Dress like you don't have any money, she'll charge you based on what she thinks you can afford.
1641 First Avenue
(212) 570-6174
Advertises in NYTimes.

Lawrence Properties
855 Ave. of the Americas, Suite 200
New York, NY 10001
Contact: Joseph F. Bulfamante
212-868-8320, x 210
fax 212-279-2119

Lemle & Wolff, Inc.
5925 Broadway
Bronx, NY 10463
Contact: Joseph J. Zitolo
718-884-7676
fax 718-884-5300

Lemor Realty Corp.
2313 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd.
New York, NY 10030-2642
Contact: Kenneth M. Morrison
212-281-2714
fax 212-281-3151

Live Right Management
313 97th St.
Brooklyn, NY 11209
Contact: Randy Starr Sulzer
718-630-5551
fax 718-630-5527
* Bay Ridge ONLY!

London Terrace Gardens/Clarendon Mgt. Corp.
435 West 23rd St.
New York, NY 10011-1402
Contact: Andrew Hoffman
212-243-7000, ext. 7444
fax 212-627-1141

Lovett Company
450 7th Ave., Suite 1106
New York, NY 10123
Contact: Ellen Kornfeld
212-736-3440
fax 212-736-1445

www.macklowe.com
Luxury no fee in Midtown and Chelsea
Price N/A on website.

www.manhattan-skyline.com
Donald Zucker Company
101 W. 55 Street
Rental agent at The Rivergate, 401 E. 34 Street, handles their rentals.
(212) 889-1850.
No fee on the East Side, West Side, and Downtown.
$1200 and up.

Mark Greenberg Real Estate Co., Inc.
1981 Marcus Ave., Suite C131
Lake Success, NY 11042
Contact: Steven Greenbaum
516-944-5000
fax 516-801-6153

Marlboro Realty Assoc.
408 West 57th St.
New York, NY 10019
Contact: Steven J. Goldin
212-757-5220
fax 212-541-7549

Matthew Adam Properties, Inc.
127 East 59th St.
New York, NY 10022
Contact: Ira M. Meister
212-699-8900
fax 212-699-8939

Mautner-Glick Corp.
1345 Third Ave.
New York, NY 10021-1903
Contact: Randy E. Glick
212-288-1999
fax 212-535-4706

Maxwell-Kates, Inc.
9 East 38th St.
New York, NY 10016
Contact: Robert Freedman
212-684-8282
fax 212-684-8077

Maxx Management
875 Mamaroneck Avenue
Mamaroneck, NY 10543
Contact: Frederick Mehlman, President
800-284-6441
fax 914-899-8092

Merlot Management
2190 Broadway, Suite 300
New York, NY 10024-6612
Contact: Beth Markowitz
212-362-9298
fax 212-362-1036

Metro Management
42-25 21st St.
Long Island City, NY 11101
Contact: David Baron
718-706-7755
fax 718-706-7760

Metropolitan Pacific Properties, Inc.
2177 33rd St.
Astoria, NY 11105
Contact: Steve Osman
212-944-9100
fax 718-626-1903
* Mostly Astoria

Midboro Management Inc.
148 West 37th St., 8th Fl.
New York, NY 10018
Contact: Michael Jay Wolfe
212-877-8500
fax 212-875-0808

Milford Management (Milstein Properties)

Monday Properties
230 Park Ave.
New York, NY 10169
Contact: Anthony Westreich
212-490-7100
fax 212-490-7100

NAI Long Island
1 Expressway Plaza, Suite 212
Roslyn Heights, NY 11577
Contact: Frank Socci, Jr., CPM
516-746-1300
fax 516-746-1088

Nationwide Management Corp.
6 East 46th St.
New York, NY 10017-2451
Contact: Robert Fisher
212-867-4970
fax 212-286-0433

Northern Management
175-61 Hillside Ave.
Jamaica, NY 11432
Contact: Ed Rosen
718-658-2620
fax 718-291-4806

Ogden CAP
Luxury no fee in Midtown, Upper West Side, and the Upper East Side.

Olnick Organization
Luxury no fee.

Orsid Realty Corp.
1740 Broadway
New York, NY 10019
Contact: Neil Davidowitz, Esq.
212-247-2603
fax 212-586-4524

Paley Management Corp.
221 East 83rd St.
New York, NY 10028
Contact: Howard S. Paley
212-288-0050
fax 212-249-0926

Park Row South Realty Corp.
1 Beekman St.
New York, NY 10038
Contact: Alan Steinberg
212-285-0929
fax 212-285-0958

Parker Madison Partners, Inc.
501 Fifth Ave., Suite 1401
New York, NY 10017
Contact: Sam Irlander
212-973-9688
fax 212-973-9690

Parker Management New York, LLC
104-20 Queens Blvd., Suite 1C
Forest Hills, NY 11375
Contact: Ralph Riveria
718-275-2350
fax 718-275-2832
* They manage one tower of flats in Forest Hills, and various locations in Manhattan.

Patrick Falci Management
164-11 Northern Blvd.
Flushing, NY 11358
Contact: Patrick Falci
718-539-9100
fax 718-539-9079
* They don’t do rentals!

Peter Brandt
73 Fifth Ave., Apt. 6B
New York, NY 10003
Contact: Peter Brandt
212-242-4289

Peter J. Burgess Management Corp.
25 Washington St., Suite 627
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Contact: Peter J. Burgess
718-875-4050
fax 718-852-1591

Pine Management Company
UWS
78 Manhattan Avenue
(212) 316-2114
Advertise in Village Voice. Ads say no fee but are not identifiable as Pine Mgmt.

Platinum Properties Of New York Ltd.
488 Madison Ave., Suite 1100
New York, NY 10022-5702
Contact: Elizabeth A. Hurley
212-644-3700
fax 212-688-5970

Plymouth Management Group
404 Park Ave. South, 14th Fl.
New York, NY 10016
Contact: Steven Miller
212-447-7000
fax 212-447-7344

Pride Property Management Corp.
708 Third Ave., 17th Fl.
New York, NY 10016
Contact: Alex Kuffel
212-690-0800
fax 201-567-1960

R&R Management Company
Chelsea, Tribeca, UWS, Bronx, Inwood
PO Box 20720
(718) 638-8058
Electronic voice system with listings on tape.

www.relatedrentals.com
Luxury no fee buildings in Chelsea, Midtown, Clinton, Murray Hill, Tribeca, Battery Park, Union Square, Upper East Side, and the Upper West Side.
$2350 and up.

www.resnicknyc.com
No fee on the Upper East Side and Midtown West.
Prices N/A. Search function on website wasn't working.

R.F. Stuart Real Estate
444 Park Ave. South
New York, NY 10016
Contact: Franklin M. Speiser
212-481-5080
fax 212-481-5460

River to River Properties International, Inc.
51 East 10th St.
New York, NY 10003-5412
Contact: Gary Cannata
212-995-5140
fax 212-995-0905

Robert C. Eberhart Real Estate
208 East 85th St.
New York, NY 10028
Contact: Robert C. Eberhart
212-734-3272
fax 212-734-8449

Robert E. Hill, Inc.
279 West 231st St.
Bronx, NY 10463
Contact: Kristen Hackett
718-884-2200
fax 718-601-8664

www.rockrosenyc.com
No fee in Midtown West and Battery Park.
$1890 and up.

Rose Associates
No fee all over Manhattan.
$2295 and up.

Rudd Realty Management Corp.
641 Lexington Ave., 10th Flr.
New York, NY 10022
Contact: Fred Rudd
212-319-5000
fax 212-319-3095

Rudin Management Co.
345 Park Ave.
New York, NY 10154
Contact: Jeffrey Steinman
212-407-2441
fax 212-407-2450

RVP Management Corp.
130 Madison Ave.
New York, NY 10016
Contact: Ricardo Von Puttkammer
212-683-3200
fax 212-683-3369

RY Management
1619 Third Ave.
New York, NY 10128
212-534-7771
No fee in Battery Park and Uptown.
$1,700 and up.

SAJ Management Corp.
Suite 1105
16 Court St.
Brooklyn, NY 11241
Contact: Scott Jaffee
718-596-1616
fax 718-834-9850

Sandberg Management Corp.
345 Seventh Ave. 21st Floor
New York, NY 10001
Contact: Louis Sandberg
212-268-0494
fax 212-268-0397

Sandra Greer Management Corp.
201 East 77th St.
New York, NY 10021
Contact: Sandra Greer
212-472-1878
fax 212-439-9689

Saparn Realty, Inc.
505 Eighth Ave., Suite 1802
New York, NY 10018
Contact: Anita Sapirman
212-629-8288
fax 212-268-9929

SDG Management Corp.
888 7th Ave., 24th Fl.
New York, NY 10106
Contact: James R. Vest
212-660-1200, ext. 309
fax 212-660-1217

Sentinel Real Estate Corp.
1251 Ave. of the Americas
New York, NY 10020
Contact: Michael J. Weinberger
212-408-2900
fax 212-603-4961

Siren Management Corp.
40 Exchange Place
New York, NY 10005
Contact: Jeff Heidings
212-483-0700
fax 212-344-2950

Sky Management
www.skymanagement.com
www.nofeeapartments.net
No fee in the Village, Chelsea, Murray Hill, and the Upper East Side.
$1,695 and up.

Solil Management Company
Gramercy, UES, UWS, KipsBay, Chelsea, EV, WV, Midtown
640 Fifth Avenue
(212) 265-1667
Register at the office ($50 fee for credit report, good for all their properties in a one year period). Supply employer letter stating your salary. You will be able to get their listings.

Standard Realty Associates
www.ownernofee.com
No fee in the Village and East Village.
$1,850 and up.

Steinberg & Pokoik
UES
160 E. 91 Street
(212) 752-7474

Strand Condominium, The
500 West 43rd St., #33C
New York, NY 10036
Contact: Bohuslav A. Kmotras
212-268-9425
fax 212-268-8119

Taube Management
204 East 83rd St.
New York, NY 10028
Contact: Joseph Taube
212-288-0077
fax 212-734-2065

Time Equities Incorporated
WV, UWS, Wall Street, Riverdale
55 Fifth Avenue
Call Martin Rowan at (212) 206-6044
Says Manhattan is very tight but he has good listings in Riverdale.

Traymore-Poe Management, Inc.
401 West End Ave.
New York, NY 10024
Contact: Jeff Wolk
212-787-0714
fax 212-787-0969

Tribor Management, Inc.
39-35 51st St.
Flushing, NY 11377-3152
Contact: Maryann Carro-Caputo
718-476-8377
fax 718-565-6189

Tudor Realty Services
250 Park Ave. South
New York, NY 10003-1402
Contact: Mary Frances Shaughnessy
212-557-3600
fax 212-557-9329

Vaso Property Management Corp.
(212) 568-4508
Advertises on craigslist

Vincent James Management
31 East 32nd St.
New York, NY 10016
Contact: Robert G. Fonti
212-532-4915
fax 212-532-3182

Vintage Real Estate Services, Ltd.
450 Seventh Avenue, Suite 1106
New York, NY 10123
Contact: Jeffrey Friedman
212-736-3680, ext. 14
fax 212-736-1445

Wallack Management
18 East 64th St.
New York, NY 10021
Contact: Marc Wallack
212-753-3381
fax 212-755-3942

Webb & Brooker, Inc.
2534 Seventh Ave.
New York, NY 10039-3899
Contact: Bernard Warren
212-926-7100
fax 212-862-0923

Weber-O'Connor Home Management Group, Inc.
236 West 26th St., Suite 805
New York, NY 10001
Contact: Jeffrey Weber
212-727-0022
fax 212-727-0049

Wentworth Property Management Co.
3646 Nostrand Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11229
Contact: Jonathan Klein
718-332-0777
fax 718-332-2858

Wingate Management Co., Inc.
747 Riverside Drive
New York, NY 10031
Contact: Louis Gallo
212-368-8485

Working Realty, Ltd.
201 East 31st St.
New York, NY 10016
Contact: Josh Prottas
212-689-0504

www.zerofeenyc.com
Nottinghill, LLC -- No fee (mostly) in the Village and Chelsea.
$2395 and up.

NO brokers fees
NO application fees
NO credit check fees
NO move-in fees
Please note that, effective January 1, 2006, the managing agent for some (but not all!) of our properties, is charging a $350 administrative fee due only when a lease is signed. Please ask the agent showing you the apartment whether this fee applies

www.9300realty.com
The search engine wasn't working. Apts I found under "Rental Deals" seemed overpriced.

A good list of rental buildings can be found here: http://www.nybits.com/apartments.html

For this section, we've compiled an extensive list of New York City rental apartment buildings. The ones located in Manhattan tend to be large ("high-rise") and fairly expensive. However, we've recently started adding smaller walkup and even brownstone buildings as well.
The overwhelming majority of buildings listed on this page are "no-fee" - i.e. managed by companies that deal directly with renters. That means you do not need to hire a broker to rent an apartment. There are a few exceptions, but they are just that - exceptions. Generally, large managers don't mind doing everything themselves, including screening applicants and showing apartments. Most buildings listed offer unfurnished apartments, but major appliances are always included. The buildings are grouped by area.

Many of the management companies and landlords above advertise directly to apartment hunters in the owner no fee ads on http://newyork.craigslist.org.

If you found this list helpful you might also want to check out Apartment Hunting 101 by MrsCG, a concise breakdown of what you need to know for finding and renting an apartment in New York City.

tags: New York City Apartments no fee Manhattan Renting NYC landlords management companies no broker fee no fee new york nouveau native no fee nouveau natives no fee Nouveau Native Guides Nouveau Native's Guide To NYC No Fee Guide To NYC No Fee New York Rental Guide

The Con-Artist Strikes Again

2006-05-05T14:22:00.001-04:00

So I take a look at the Wisconsin court database today and find that they changed her status from just a few days ago which was convicted of two felonies with a $5000 bond. She managed to get her diversion agreement continued:
La Crosse County Case Number 2000CF000650
Court Record Events

Date

Event

Court Official

Court Reporter

05-02-2006

Notes

	Additional Text:
	RAG vacated the MTR that was signed [cmd]

05-02-2006

Letters/correspondence

	Additional Text:
	FAX to RAG from: Atty Locante re: copy of money order sent by def (Per note: Money Order rec'd by DA on 3-21-06 for $500) [cmd]

05-02-2006

Letters/correspondence

	Additional Text:
	Letter to Maureen Hickey from Lisamarie D. filed for CRT's review [cmd]

04-28-2006

Warrant/Capias/Commitment canceled

	Event Party
	Delauren, Andrea C

	Additional Text:
	Warrant Quashed by CRT - not entered in Visions [cmd]

04-25-2006

Bench warrant issued

Gonzalez, Ramona A.

Tichenor, Tami

	Event Party	Amount
	Delauren, Andrea C	$ 5000.00

Alexandrea Delauren's Current Websites

2006-05-02T14:31:00.000-04:00

In this one she's pretending to be three people who wrote her "Nouveau Native" books:
http://nouveaunative.blogspot.com

And here she's posing as a "completely independent" book reviewer:
http://bluestockingbookreview.blogspot.com

She recently added herself to the list of "authors" on her L'Abeille Publishing website in response, no doubt, to her exposure by Jenna Glatzer and the astute moderators on absolutewrite.com (Thank you, AW!):
http://www.labeillepublishing.com/id37.html

Alexandrea Delauren hilariously interviews herself here:
http://www.labeillepublishing.com/id40.html

This from the person who owes thousands of dollars in restitution to the victims of her crimes, here's an excerpt from Alexandrea Delauren's "interview":

"This year, L'Abeille Publishing is launching A Year of Community where each book published in 2006 donates a portion of the proceeds of each title sold in 2006 to a charity or community group. What causes have you nominated to benefit from your sales?
I am nominating one charity in the US and one in the UK.
I nominate the National Center for Victims of Crime in the US."

Oh the irony. I wonder how everyone at www.ncvc.org would feel about having their organization used by a criminal to lend herself credibility.

And though she may be using spellcheck a little more often, the same pretentiously stilted writing is there as always.

[Update June 3rd: The link to National Center for Victims of Crime on labeillepublishing.com is gone!]

technorati: L Abeille Publishing LAbeille Publishing nouveau native nouveau natives scam fraud aiv andrea delauren alexandrea delauren New York City New York Apartments no fee Manhattan Renting NYC landlords management companies Nouveau Native Guides Nouveau Native's Guide To NYC No Fee Guide To NYC No Fee New York Rental Guide

BBC Television Watchdog: Glasgow Con-woman

2006-04-29T19:12:00.001-04:00

8th March 2005

We are warning viewers to watch out for an American called Alexandrea Stewart or Alex MacIan, or Andrea Delauren, or whatever name she is using this week.

She set up shop in Glasgow last year with a business called Property Professionals Estate Agents and Management Ltd. She quickly found an office and furnished it. She employed staff and prepared advertising. Within a matter of weeks, she had set up a fully-fledged business.

Alex Stewart got herself a luxury apartment but those who dealt with her soon found out she wasn't all she appeared.

She had acquired all of the trappings of a successful businesswoman, it seems, without paying much for them. Alex simply bought goods and services and rarely settled her bills. She owes thousands of pounds to her employees, landlords, advertisers and suppliers.

She has a criminal history in the USA. Under the name Andrea Delauren, she was convicted for issuing worthless cheques. And using the name Vivian Smith she was found guilty of cheque fraud and charged with burglary. There is a warrant out for her arrest in California.

And finally, viewers in Bristol beware. It looks as if she is about to sign a contract for office premises for two new property ventures in the city.

In a statement, Alexandrea Stewart said her companies are currently in administration. She says she has paid some of her staff and some of her suppliers, and she hasn't profited from her business.

(if anyone has a tape of this broadcast in any format let me know - thanks!)

technorati: L Abeille Publishing LAbeille Publishing nouveau native nouveau natives scam fraud aiv andrea delauren alexandrea delauren New York City New York Apartments no fee Manhattan Renting NYC landlords management companies Nouveau Native Guides Nouveau Native's Guide To NYC No Fee Guide To NYC No Fee New York Rental Guide

The New York Post: PRACTICALLY ZIP; E-MAIL REAL ESTATE SERVICE ACCUSED OF FRAUD

2006-04-29T18:36:00.001-04:00

The New York Post
September 28, 2003, Sunday
HEADLINE: PRACTICALLY ZIP; E-MAIL REAL ESTATE SERVICE ACCUSED OF FRAUD
BYLINE: ANNE BECKER

Furious customers of apartment-listing service Practically Rented are saying the company is more like a practical joke.
The company solicited apartment-hunters through the popular craigslist.com, promising to send daily e-mails of New York apartment listings for an annual fee of $195 - all but $15 of which it claimed would be refundable if the hunter rented an apartment through other means.
Now, dozens of former customers have complained on web sites, to government agencies and the Better Business Bureau and say the e-mails were spotty, the apartments dingy and the company's representatives unreachable.
The ensuing squabble has dragged in major credit card companies, government agencies and the owner of craigslist.com, the popular online community.
At least six Practically Rented subscribers who found apartments elsewhere said they tried filing for the promised refund, only to find a computerized voice mail and no responses from a generic bookkeeping e-mail address.
The customers say instead of refunding the $195, Practically Rented charged their credit cards an additional $195 fee a few months later.
"When I heard the money-back guarantee, I assumed they were so good they could make money, but I immediately put my guard up," said environmental consultant Charlotte Matthews, who filed with the New York State Consumer Protection Board.
Three former employees of the company say the woman behind the mess is Alexandrea Stewart.
"Stewart is the source of the problem," said Maggie Ocampo, who said she left Practically Rented two months after Stewart hired her to manage an office for the company.
"She was always stressed out. She always had an excuse."
She has been villified on web sites as well, the subject of a bulletin board barrage of criticism.
Stewart, however, takes exception to that. "I have been scammed, taken advantage of and duped," she said.
The address under which Practically Rented was licensed - a suite at the Chelsea Hotel - matches the one Stewart has used to register a Web site for Albannach Entertainment, which recently posted a casting call on the Internet for a "mockumentary" on New York real estate.
According to Stewart, Practically Rented is seeking to sue Visa and Mastercard, whom she said froze 70 percent of the company's assets to grant customers' refunds, forcing her to take out $10,000 in personal loans.
Stewart said she lost her brokers' license seven years prior to her involvement with Practically Rented.
She pointed to Craig Newmark, owner of craigslist.com, as an owner of the company.
Newmark denied owning the company and said his involvment was limited to removing defamatory posts from his Web site.
"There are many brokers who aren't completely ethical who do really wrong things and we're trying to do something about it," he said.
Practically Rented's Web site lists a Las Vegas address as its current location, but the business services office in that county has no record of a license for the company.
The New York Department of State has received several complaints against the company and is waiting for a statement from Stewart before referring the case to the attorney general, according to a representative.

nypost.com

Check out my Free No Fee New York Apartment List with Websites and Contact Information of Landlords and Management Companies so you don't have to pay money and support the criminal, Alexandrea Stewart aka Alexandrea Delauren/L'Abeille Publishing. Good luck with your apartment search!

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The Daily Record: DON'T LET HER CON YOU TOO: Property cheat is convicted crook

2006-04-29T17:43:00.001-04:00

Friday, January 7th, 2005
By John Ferguson

AN AMERICAN property dealer who has left a trail of debt in Scotland is a convicted con artist.

Alexandrea Stewart moved from New York to Glasgow last year and set up an estate agency and letting company.

But the Record exposed her dealings in America and her mounting debts here.

Now we can reveal she has been convicted in the US of several counts of issuing worthless cheques.

Stewart was found guilty in Wisconsin of conning people out of cash.

Though she avoided a jail sentence, she was given three years' probation and ordered to pay a fine and apologise to her victims.

Geoff Wolf, captain of the investigation division of Connie Sheriff Department, confirmed the incriminating record.

He said: 'She was convicted for issuing worthless cheques. She was charged with six counts of this crime and she therefore has a criminal record in this state.

'The woman was sentenced to serve a three-year probationary term.'

He added: 'She had to pay fees and she had to meet with her victims and go through mediation with them and she had to pay $185.

'She was convicted for issuing one cheque for more than $2500, three for just under $1000 and two for over $1000.'

All the offences were committed in 2000 while Stewart was going by the name Andrea Delauren.

Stewart, 36, arrived in Glasgow a year ago and set up 4Rent Magazine.

She subsequently registered internet property firm, Property Professionals.

But while she claimed to be an expert in property deals,Stewart didn't even pay her own rent.
Several contractors who carried out work for her were left unpaid.

Spencer Gallagher lost money dealing with Stewart after his IT company wasn't paid for its work.

He said: "I realised something wasn't right when she kept telling me money hadn't arrived from America and I stopped the work we were doing. Her cheque bounced.

"I just hope that in the future other people and businesses won't be taken in."

And employees taken on didn't receive a penny in wages after working for her for months.

One customer claimed he had allowed Stewart to rent out a flat he owned but that she never gave him the money for it.

But while pleading poverty, Stewart had been living in one of the city's plushest addresses at the GPO building in Glasgow city centre.

In New York, Stewart formed a company that promised to find apartments for a fee.

Several people said she took the fee, but didn't find them a home.

The local government in New York State confirmed they received 18 complaints about Stewart's company before she disappeared.

Stewart was not available for comment when we tried to contact her.

Click for larger photo

technorati: L Abeille Publishing LAbeille Publishing nouveau native nouveau natives scam fraud aiv andrea delauren alexandrea delauren New York City New York Apartments no fee Manhattan Renting NYC landlords management companies Nouveau Native Guides Nouveau Native's Guide To NYC No Fee Guide To NYC No Fee New York Rental Guide

The Daily Record: RECORD INVESTIGATION: DON'T BET THE MORTGAGE ON THIS WOMAN AND HER FIRM

2006-04-29T17:32:00.001-04:00

Sep 20 2004
WEALTH WARNING TO PROPERTY BUYERS:
Exclusive By John Ferguson

AN AMERICAN businesswoman offering to find homes for Scots has left a trail of debt and unsatisfied customers.
Alexandrea Stewart moved from New York to Scotland last year and has set up a company to find people a flat or sell their house for a fee.
But the Record can reveal her almost identical venture in the US left customers claiming to have been left homeless and out of pocket.
And her Scottish business is piling up debts and her employees claim they have not been paid.
Stewart, 36, arrived in Glasgow a year ago and set up 4Rent Magazine.
Employment agency First People Solutions claim she approached them to provide five staff to work for her at the office on Oswald Street.
However, staff claim they were not paid for their time with the firm.
Stewart subsequently registered internet property company, Property Professionals, at the same address.
Yesterday, one of Stewart's former employees, Joe Habib, 27, from Glasgow, said: 'I worked for nine weeks but didn't get paid. I was taken on as a researcher but ended up decorating the office.'
A director of First People Solutions claimed Stewart had not paid the firm its £20,000 fee and said it had begun litigation proceedings against her.
He said: 'She is a total nightmare and shouldn't be allowed to do business.'
The landlord of her plush city centre flat claims she owes rent on the property, as do the letting agents for her office.
It is claimed she also owes money to the Herald property section and the internet firm who designed her website.
In New York, Stewart formed a company that promised to find apartment for a fee - - but several people claim she took their fee and didn't find an apartment.
The local government in New York State confirmed they received 18 complaints about Stewart's company Practically Rented before she disappeared.
When confronted with the claims, Stewart said: 'This company is all I have at the moment and I won't let anyone take it from me.
'So some people didn't get paid but I am trying to get this together so I can pay people.'
#Have you had a bad experience with Alexandrea Stewart? Call the Record on 01413093251.

Click for larger photo

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The Wild and Wooly Story of L'Abeille Publishing

2006-04-29T16:38:00.002-04:00

By Jenna Glatzer (originally posted at www.absolutewrite.com)

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you...
The Wild and Wooly Story of L'Abeille Publishing
First, let's review what's happened here on the surface, then I'll tell you the behind-the-scenes.

A member here asked if anyone had info on L'Abeille Publishing. Nope, says we. CaoPaux says there are no obvious red flags on the website. New member katari shows up to show us articles about one Alexandrea Stewart/Andrea Delauren, who is associated with real estate scams. "Huh?" says we. "What does Alex/Andrea have to do with L'Abeille?"

Katari offers info by PM or e-mail, but doesn't wish to share her info on the board because she knows Alex/Andrea will be reading and that if Katari exposes the method she's using to track Alex/Andrea, she can't use it again. Katari says she's one of the victims of a real estate scam of Alex/Andrea's.

We're suspicious, which is fair. Alex/Andrea takes advantage of this by showing up under two anonymous screen names: FedUp and GeorgieGirl. As FedUp, she sends PMs. As GeorgieGirl, she responds to James' comment that L'Abeille can't get books onto bookstore shelves.

GeorgieGirl lies to us, pretending that she just happens to be a member of four writers' sites where katari has posted warnings, and so she went to her local Barnes & Noble and found two L'Abeille books on shelves. She purposely misspells L'Abeille, to look casual about it. I love that touch.

Someone says that no one here would be silly enough to submit work to L’Abeille, but in fact, at least two people on this site already have, which is why I think it’s important to get the facts for them.

And now for the fun part.

Here's what was going on: Alex/Andrea was writing to half the mods, desperately attempting to get us to erase this thread. She's been successful at scaring other website owners into removing threads about her before, so she thinks it'll work here. It won't.

Victoria, Charlie, and I tried to figure out what the story was-- who was telling the truth, and whether or not this thread belonged here. Alex offered to fax Victoria all kinds of proof that katari is a stalker, that Alex has never done anything wrong in her life, that she's a victim, victim, victim!

Alex tells us several things:

-That she believes katari is her ex-husband's new girlfriend, trying to force Alex out of the UK so he doesn't have to pay child support.

-That her "stalker" has relentlessly pursued her for years, posting personal information online

-That the Daily Record article is one big lie

-That she has a clean criminal record

-That she's written a book about being the victim of a stalker

-That she has indefinite leave to stay in the UK because her ex-husband is British and her kids were born there

-This stalker made her go bankrupt, ruined her second marriage, etc.

-She feels like she’s being raped “over and over again” in this thread. She tells me this in two different letters, to make sure I understand just how very raped she is getting.

In one of her long letters, she tells me:

"I have never been accused of being a con artist.
I have never been charged with being a con artist.
I have never been tried for being a con artist.
i have never been convicted of being a con artist."

I think this is straightforward enough. So I decide to check on her story.

I find this.
And this.

(Click me! Click me, do!)

For someone who's never been accused, charged, tried, or convicted of being a con artist, it sure does seem strange that she's been accused, charged, tried, and convicted of being a con artist.

So I write to Maureen Hickey, the DA on the case. I show her one of Alex's letters to me, and Maureen responds:

Dear Ms. Glatzer,
I appreciate you taking time to speak to me about Andrea Delauren. Andrea was arrested in La Crosse in 2000 for 3 counts of Felony Issuance of Worthless Checks and 3 counts of Misdemeanor Issuance of Worthless Checks. Based on our lack of information at the time of any history of crime, she was offered a Diversion Agreement, which is the program that I run. She had to admit her guilt of 2 felony charges, while also pleading guilty to 3 misdemeanors. She was convicted of the 3 misdemeanors and placed on 3 years probation. The 2 felonies were diverted meaning that if she complied with the terms of our agreement, which included paying over $17,000.00 in restitution, she would have the felonies dismissed. She was required to pay $2000.00 upfront, before being to return to New York.

She had us believing that once she returned to New York, she would make arrangements to obtain the required restitution and send it as soon as possible. She sent absolutely nothing and then, out of the blue, she contacted me by mail with a list of several reasons why she had not made a payment. Mostly, they were hard luck stories, saying how rough it had been financially and she was living in poor conditions.

At the time, she agreed to pay at least something every month. That did not happen until I sent her a notice of a hearing to revoke her Diversion Agreement. She was suddenly able to come up with $500.00. If the motion is granted, she will also have the 2 felony convictions on her record and would face up to 10 years in prison.

The person she refers to as her exhusband's girlfriend is just one of many victims of her scams in New York. The more we search, the more we learn of Ms. Delauren's criminal behavior in numerous con games. She has set up multiple new businesses where she is able to get people to pay for a service which they never receive. Ms. Delauren then takes off, leaving people wondering what happened to them. She also skipped out on employees who were never paid.

She was convicted in California on 2 counts of Felony Possession of Check With Intent To Defraud. She served time in jail and was placed on probation. She was ordered to be deported to England. Our investigator spoke to Inspector Duncan Hamilton of the Glasgow, Scotland Police. He has been investigating this woman due to a complaint of having paid Delauren for a rental property, which was never paid to the proper owner. Apparently, there have been other reported complaints which resulted in the paper printing an article and BBC broadcast a program warning others about her. I am sure you didn't want to hear all this. I am upset that she has cheated so many people and is able to slip through the cracks to continue her cons. Please question any dealings with this woman.

Maureen Hickey
La Crosse County District Attorney's Office
La Crosse, WI, US

I asked Maureen if I might share that letter here, and she granted permission.

I noted that one of the “proofs” Alex offered about why the Daily Record article was bogus is that they quoted a police officer from “Connie County.” “There is no Connie County in the United States!” Alex told us. Right. It was a misprint. It was an officer from La Crosse County. The Daily Record may have screwed up their spellings, but they didn’t make up this officer. His name is Captain Jeffrey Wolff, and he provided her mug shot for the article, too.

I also wrote to the DA's office in San Bernardino, CA about another likely alias of Alex's-- Vivian Smith. Same date of birth and social security number. They told me, "Vivian Smith pled guilty to check fraud on April 6, 2001. She failed to appear for sentencing and a bench warrant was issued for her arrest. Further information can be found at the San Bernardino County Superior Court Web site."

Which is here: http://170.164.50.60/openaccess/cri...fnbr=995543&dsn

It says she’s a fugitive.

Meanwhile, we hear from another victim of Alex’s real estate con, and an ex-employee, who back up katari completely and tell us more. We also find a long string of urls that Alex has registered, mostly real-estate related, but also a purported film company with lots and lots of movies in production (the site is now down).

I also hear from Alex, who is furious that I've outed her as GeorgieGirl and can't figure out what was wrong with that. "I went online as Georgie Girl in response to james saying that there are no books in stores and giving the impression that there must be something wrong with the company. So I posted what? That I have been watching with interest? That is an understatement. That the books are available in Barnes and Noble? They are. But again, if this is an issue why wouldn't you email me personally and say 'whats up?' You decided instead to post in a really imflamitory way."

Um, yeah. I didn't e-mail you, Alex, to say "what's up," because we are not friends. You came to my message board and lied to people. Why do you suppose I should defend you?

Well, by now we were all certain that Alex/Andrea was full of it, but what I couldn't prove was whether or not Alex/Andrea ran L'Abeille. I knew she did, based on numerous things-- but I wanted it to be airtight-- otherwise, why have the warning here at all?

So I asked Alex, “What is your relationship to L’Abeille Publishing?” She didn’t respond. I asked again. She said she didn’t get my first e-mail because her computer was always getting hacked. Then she told me that she wrote the Stalkers book for LAbeille (no apostrophe-- trying to look casual again?). I asked, “Is that your complete relationship with L’Abeille-- that you wrote one book for them?” “No, that is not my complete relationship,” she told me, then changed the subject and complained that I had pushed her off on Victoria earlier and that all those faxes would prove her innocence, and... and...

I told her I’d be happy to discuss other things after she gave me an answer to my direct question, which was: What is your relationship with L’Abeille Publishing? She didn’t answer again.

I posted it here on the thread, too, which she has been reloading and reloading and reloading, but not answering.

So I did some investigating.

The phone number on L'Abeille's site doesn't work. The New York City address is a mail forwarding service-- and the man who runs that service says that the woman from the UK who ordered this service for L'Abeille gave him a hard-luck story about how she was getting a divorce and then would be moving back to NYC. But one problem: The woman never paid and never signed the contract, and he's been trying to get her to remove the address from her website.

The domain registration address, under “Amy Lynch,” is a Mailboxes Etc. They searched for all the names I could give them: L’Abeille Publishing, Alex/Andrea/Vivian DeLauren/Stewart, and came up with nothing.

There is no record of L'Abeille Publishing in the NYS Dept. of State Division of Corporations database, even though it's listed as L'Abeille Publishing, Inc. on their website.

It was a no-brainer to figure out that Alex had written the only two books L'Abeille has actually published-- the "renting an apartment in NYC" guides-- because that's what her con games were all about. It made plenty of sense that they were published anonymously, too. And she had already told me she was working on a book about stalkers, which was the subject of the only other book on the website with a full description and ISBN.

The press releases on the L'Abeille site were a dead giveaway, too, because of one word:

“IMMIDIATELY”

I show you Exhibit A, from their website:

Contact: Amy Lynch
Press and Publicity Manager
212-502-7941
FOR IMMIDIATE RELEASE

In two different e-mails to me, Alex used the word "immidiately." I love consistent misspellings when I'm on a trail. :)

But I shouldn't have bothered with all the detective work. Victoria was out of town for a few days, and when she got back, she showed me Alex’s "proof" and latest sob letter, which included this: " L'Abeille Publishing is my own personal publishing company for my books and the books written by some of my friends. This site isn't indexed on google because it is just for us and for bookstores or retailers that carry the books. There is nothing for sale on the site, there is no offer of vanity services or any services at all. About two months ago we started getting hundreds of emails about submissions. I contacted ‘firstwrite’ and told them that we don't want submissions. The fellow suggested that someone had signed up the company but at our request the submissions stopped."

Well, it sure is interesting that they don’t want submissions, considering that they offered a contract to a person right here at Absolute Write, and that their submissions page invites query letters and agented manuscripts.

http://www.labeillepublishing.com/id21.html

Oh, and in this letter, she says the stalker has ruined her third marriage, not her second.

So, a few conclusions:

-As backed up by the Wisconsin DA, katari is exactly who she said she was from the start: a victim of Alex’s real estate cons in New York City from a few years back. She is here because she has continued tracking Alex in the hopes of warning others not to do business with this criminal. It may have sounded odd that she was willing to give info by PM, but I have verified that there was a good reason for this, so just trust me on that much. Have I ever steered you wrong? ;)

-The person who runs L’Abeille Publishing is a convicted criminal who has written bad checks, was charged with burglary, run off without paying clients and employees, used aliases, was arrested at the airport trying to leave the country in 2001, has an outstanding arrest warrant in California, owes a great deal of restitution to a great many people and has not paid it, and is being investigated in Scotland. She has been in jail before and may be brought back to the US do prison time for her previous felonies.

-If that doesn’t matter to you, the publishing company uses Lightning Source for print-on-demand (no print run). Thus far, it has published two anonymous nonfiction books with awful covers and lousy editing (see excerpt page: http://www.labeillepublishing.com/id32.html). These two books have sold a combined total of less than 150 copies.

I want to put that last part in flashing neon letters, but don’t know how, so I’ll just say it once more: 2 books. Less than 150 sales in total. Is that what you want for your book? Will selling 75 copies make you happy?

-The person who runs L’Abeille Publishing (Alexandrea Stewart/Andrea DeLauren) verified those numbers to me by e-mail. I’m not making them up. Consider that when you reread this sentence: "In the meantime, the popular Nouveau Native’s No Fee New York rental guide series is proving one of the most popular regional property series ever."

So my final analysis, ladies and gents, is that a writer would really have to be self-hating to get involved with this criminal and her self-publishing venture.

Hugs to Victoria for all your help, as always.

Thank you. The prosecution needs coffee now.

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showpost.php?p=585601&postcount=66

technorati: L Abeille Publishing LAbeille Publishing nouveau native nouveau natives scam fraud aiv andrea delauren alexandrea delauren New York City New York Apartments no fee Manhattan Renting NYC landlords management companies Nouveau Native Guides Nouveau Native's Guide To NYC No Fee Guide To NYC No Fee New York Rental Guide

2 New Felony Convictions. Nice!

2006-04-29T16:38:00.001-04:00

State of Wisconsin vs. Andrea C Delauren
La Crosse County Case Number 2000CF000650
Filing Date: 10-25-2000
Case Type: Criminal
Case Status: Open - Bench warrant issued 04-25-2006
Defendant: Delauren, Andrea C
Date of Birth: 04-07-1968
Address: No permanent address,
Branch Id: 4

and a $5000.00 bond.

(The con-artist strikes again. -- Edited on May 5th)

technorati: L Abeille Publishing LAbeille Publishing nouveau native nouveau natives scam fraud aiv andrea delauren alexandrea delauren New York City New York Apartments no fee Manhattan Renting NYC landlords management companies Nouveau Native Guides Nouveau Native's Guide To NYC No Fee Guide To NYC No Fee New York Rental Guide