Housing underproduction and skyrocketing costs have exacerbated systemic barriers to homeownership for communities of color across the country. Scammers who exploit these barriers and financially endanger homebuyers through deceptive practices should be held accountable for the harm they inflict on our communities.
When NYLAG Consumer Protection attorneys Noelle Eberts and Florida Hoxha reviewed our client Rosa’s case, they found that her experience was just the tip of the iceberg:
Rosa Quituisaca said she got a call last year from a friend warning that the two of them might have made a mistake buying homes from the same Hamptons property investor.
[…]
Now she faces foreclosure and the loss of her $75,000 down payment and nearly $100,000 she estimates she spent to make the property habitable.
“It has been like a nightmare,” Quituisaca said in Spanish.
Quituisaca thought she had bought the house in 2022 from Michael O’Sullivan, who homebuyers had accused in lawsuits of defrauding them for years.The accusations against [O’Sullivan], first reported by Newsday in May, are one of the latest examples of alleged real estate scams disproportionately affecting Latino immigrants. Since 2016, at least 17 buyers have sued O’Sullivan, alleging fraud or breach of contract in deals in which they paid over $5 million, according to a Newsday investigation. At least half the plaintiffs are Latino, including eight who say English is not their first language, according to court documents and attorney statements.
“When I took on Rosa’s case, it felt like the tip of the iceberg by the time I discovered all these other cases,” said Florida Hoxha, Quituisaca’s attorney.
Quituisaca, an immigrant from Ecuador and mother of four, is among four buyers facing foreclosure, while at least two buyers have previously been evicted and another three face potential eviction, according to court documents and interviews.
Read the full story in Newsday, originally published on August 18, 2025.
