An immigrant Brooklyn woman’s $4 million savings is being denied access to her when she needs it most in the final year of her life because her court-appointed guardian was incompetent, her family claims.
Aleksandra Chodowiec, 93, emigrated to the United States alone from her hometown of Wroclaw in western Poland in 1973, when she was 43. She worked two jobs: in an envelope factory and cleaning offices in Manhattan.
In just two years, the hard-working Chodowiec had saved up enough money to buy what he considered the golden ticket: a five-story rental building in Greenpoint with eight apartments and two commercial units.
“She fled Communism, which she hated,” said her son-in-law, Andrzej Szymanic. “She came to New York because she always wanted to come to America and live the American dream, and she did!”
Mr. Chodowiec made an $8,000 down payment on the Java Street building.
That $70,000 investment is now worth more than $4 million, according to court records.
But now Chodowiec suffers from dementia and the income from her lucrative estate is nowhere to be found to pay for the ongoing care she requires, relatives charge.
Records show the elderly woman’s case became the subject of state guardianship proceedings in 2018 after a family dispute erupted over Chodowiec’s care.
Property manager William Ellerton was eventually appointed by a Brooklyn judge as superintendent of the Java Street building, where Eva and Andrzej managed one of the commercial units and other relatives lived in several apartments.
Ellerton, who was paid $25,000 for “temporary” work on the case before being appointed receiver in 2020, has a range of court-granted powers, including paying for Chodowiec’s visiting carer, charging a fair rent for the Java Street apartment and setting a budget.
It’s unclear how much Ellerton is being paid to oversee the case.
But Szymanic, 71, claims that despite years of oversight, Ellerton has not rented out the unit and it has taken him and Eva months to reimburse Chodowiec for expenses, even the cost of adult diapers.
According to court documents, rent for each two-bedroom unit was between $3,000 and $4,000 a month. Simanik claimed the building once generated $100,000 in annual income.
He claims Ellerton is ignoring prospective tenants who want to rent the space, including a local bakery that is interested in one of the commercial units.
“He called multiple times to rent it but there was no response,” Simanik alleged.
The building needs significant renovations, Ellerton told The Post.
“I think if we’re going to make any income from the apartments, we have to fix them,” he said, noting that one of the vacant units is in dire need of repairs after a rent-controlled tenant passed away after living there for more than 30 years.
Ellerton said he has been waiting months for a judge to approve his request to work with real estate attorneys and real estate brokers to determine the building’s future, but the family is opposed to selling the building.
“What I asked the court to do was to address various issues, including whether we should sell,” he said, adding that the Simaniks have not paid rent on the commercial premises they occupy.
