Seven years after the fact, developer Mendel Brach is out of business. The developer has entered into an agreement with the State Attorney General’s office wherein he will barred from selling apartments in New York State and will pay buyers in the Spencer Street condos $10.9 million to repair “structural defects”. The agreement arose out of Brach’s exploitation of the dormitory exemption to overbuild a 9-story condo project in Bed-Stuy. (Locally, Brach was the original developer of the Finger Building.)

It is up to Mr. Bailey, the residents’ lawyer, to collect the $10.9 million judgment, and the apartment owners still must seek certificates of occupancy from the Department of Buildings… If Mr. Brach satisfies all conditions of the settlement, he can ask to have his real estate security privileges reinstated in five years.

No wonder the residents don’t sound ecstatic over the deal. Sounds like a slap on the wrist, with no guarantee of damages ever being recovered.