The owners of a Soho penthouse are suing Tal Alexander and Official Partners for allegedly defrauding them of roughly $400,000.
The lawsuit, filed in New York on Monday, accuses the former top agent, the brokerage he co-founded and entrepreneur Daniel Fine, of lying about Fine’s finances and deceiving the owners into renting their apartment at 54 Thompson Street to him.
The lease “was and continues to be a con-job disaster,” the complaint states.
“Our client was shocked to discover that the then-respected Official Partners had conspired against its own client in order to gain a commission,” Christopher Milito, an attorney for the plaintiff, wrote in a statement. “Our client was defrauded and damaged by this group of unprincipled individuals.”
The lawsuit adds to a growing list of complaints against Alexander and his brothers, Oren and Alon Alexander, who have been in custody since their arrest on federal sex trafficking charges in December. Along with dozens of civil sexual assault claims against the brothers, Tal and Oren, who co-founded Official, are facing a lawsuit from the backer of their company, white-label firm Side, over an allegedly unpaid loan.
In the complaint, the plaintiff — an entity that appears to be tied to a mortgage firm executive — claims Alexander and Fine “lied, falsified bank documents and covered each other’s bad acts” to present Fine as a reliable renter.
However, once the lease began, the complaint alleges Fine “immediately failed” to meet the $45,000 per month rent and utility charges, racking up a six-figure outstanding balance. It accuses Fine of renting out the space for parties and for allowing others to sublet the unit, which Alexander was charged by the landlord with renting out.
The lease, which Fine signed through his company, FineCo, is in place until May 2026.
“It does not appear that Fine ever resided in the apartment himself, as was the understanding,” the plaintiff’s attorneys wrote. “Instead, FineCo and Fine have used the apartment to generate income for themselves without paying Plaintiff its justly-due rent.”
An attorney for Fine denied the claim bank statement was forged and called the lawsuit “meritless.”
“The bank statement was legitimate, and the cash was in the accounts,” Fine’s attorney wrote in a statement.
The attorney also pointed to other lawsuits filed by the owner of the apartment and argued that Fine wasn’t living in the unit because the landlords had failed to provide heat in the winter and air conditioning in the summer.
“Given the conditions of the apartment, FineCo withheld rent, as it is entitled to do,” the attorney wrote.
The attorney also denied that Fine was represented by Tal Alexander or Official Partners, but had his own separate broker.
Attorneys representing Alexander and Official Partners did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The duplex penthouse last traded in 2021 for $12.3 million to an LLC linked to Tri Minh Nguyen, CEO of Network Capital, and Hung Nguyen, according to mortgage documents filed in the city register.
About two years after buying the apartment, the owners started searching for a renter for the property, initially seeking $60,000 a month when it hit the market in April 2023, according to a Streeteasy listing.
The property history shows the owners tapped Official Partners, including Alexander and Nicholas Lounsbury, a former Official agent and defendant in the lawsuit, to find a tenant last March, though the complaint states they were hired the year prior. The complaint accuses Alexander and the brokerage of doing “little to market the apartment to the general public.”
Instead, court documents state Alexander offered Fine, described as a friend and in similar social circles, as a prospective tenant. Among the application materials submitted by Fine was a bank statement from JP Morgan showing he had more than $4 million in his account.
The owners claim they voiced concerns about Fine’s credit score and his reported businesses.
“The ‘medical app’ in Fine’s biography appeared to be an iPhone app touting itself as a ‘Cannabis Cooking Calculator’ for ‘Perfectly dosed edibles.’ SetScale appeared to be a small, internet-based factoring lender,” the complaint states. “And a 710 credit score for the intended occupant of a $45,000 a month apartment was unusual.”
The owners allege Alexander and Lounsbury instead pushed them to focus on the bank statement, which proved Fine had enough cash to meet the hefty rent.
Now, they’re claiming that document was forged, and that Alexander and Lounsbury knew it was a fake.
“Despite the knowledge of the fake Account Statement, Alexander, Lounsbury and Official urged Plaintiff to rely on it as evidence of FineCo’s ability to pay rent for the Apartment,” the complaint states. The defendants “urged this reliance in order to earn a leasing commission, which was paid by Plaintiff to Official.”
The lawsuit, which seeks more than $150,000 in damages, includes allegations of fraud, aiding and abetting fraud and breach of contract.
Lounsbury did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
After a decade at Douglas Elliman, Tal and Oren co-founded Official with three other partners in 2022. The firm quickly cemented itself as one of the leading brokerages in luxury markets such as New York and South Florida and later expanded to the West Coast and Aspen, Colorado.
The firm’s early success halted last summer, after The Real Deal first reported on sexual assault allegations levied against Tal, Oren and Alon. Tal and Oren initially stepped back from their roles at Official, but later took control of the brokerage after their co-founders exited.
This article has been updated with a statement from an attorney for Daniel Fine.
Read more
Alexanders arrested: How two decades of rape and assault allegations turned into charges
Side claims Alexanders, Official breached contract, defaulted on loan
Inside Official’s breakup after the Alexander allegations
Most, if not all, of Official’s agents have since left the firm, which is likely not operating, as Oren and Tal have been in a Brooklyn federal jail since earlier this year.
Side sued Official and the Alexanders last year, alleging they failed to pay back a $5 million loan it provided for them to launch their business. A California judge issued a temporary injunction barring the brothers from offloading or concealing assets used to collateralize the loan, a move the brothers are appealing.
Tal, Oren and Alon’s federal sex trafficking trial is slated to begin in January 2026. Oren and Alon are also facing state charges in Miami-Dade County; that trial could start as early as May.
