NYC property moguls sue daughter for secretly listing their $3M condo —to fund a legal battle against them

Parental love has its limits — and, in this case, it can spiral into an absolute nightmare.

A bitter familial feud that has stretched on for years — including pitting brother against brother — has just reached its latest chapter, The Post has learned. And this time, two property-mogul parents who have co-managed a 500-unit Manhattan apartment portfolio are targeting their estranged daughter with legal action.

Arthur and Ester Haruvi, aged 76 and 79, respectively, are trying to halt their 47-year-old daughter Michelle from secretly selling their 1,440-square-foot, two-bedroom Manhattan condo for some $3 million — claiming it’s for her to “finance and sustain her scorched-earth litigation campaign against” them, according to a bombshell federal complaint filed Wednesday in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. They also aim to stop her from making off with all the proceeds, as well as undistributed rental income.

The complaint adds it’s “part of a broader effort to weaponize the family’s assets for her own personal financial gain and to the detriment of her parents, from whom she is now estranged.”

Arthur, Esther and their attorneys didn’t respond to requests for comment, nor did Michelle.

Relations between Michelle and her parents fractured around 2021 due to her conduct with other family members, the parents say in the documents. No other details regarding the ongoing bad blood were provided in the suit.

In November 2012, however, matters between the family members were seemingly quite good. Arthur and Esther gifted Michelle a 99% economic interest in unit 51D at the Sheffield -— a 50-story tower with nearly 600 units that stands near Columbus Circle — as an act of “estate planning and as a gift,” according to the court documents.

Arthur and Esther retained 1%, as well as “their status as the only two members with the authority to manage and direct the LLC [that owns the apartment] and the Unit,” per the complaint.

Fourteen years on, things are quite sour.

Arthur and Esther claim Michelle secretly staged and listed the apartment “to sell the Unit out from under them, without their knowledge, consent or authorization,” according the suit.

The Haruvis claim they discovered the scheme on June 8 from a building-wide notice forwarded by their other daughter, Aileen, that announced a “Private Preview Before Public Listing.” They later learned that Michelle had hired an interior design studio to stage the apartment for prospective buyers, the suit adds.

When the designer, DreamRose Design, posted photos of the staging on Instagram, Michelle demanded the post be taken down to prevent her parents from discovering the sale, according to the lawsuit. DreamRose Design, which is not named as a defendant, declined to comment, citing the “pending litigation.”

Michelle, who resides in San Francisco, unilaterally assumed the title of “Managing Member,” seized control of the LLC’s bank accounts, and diverted more than $100,000 in annual rental income solely to herself starting in 2021 — all while withholding financial statements and tax documents from her parents, who live on the Upper West Side, they allege.

The unit was rented out from at least 2013 through June 2023, with monthly rents from $9,200 to $9,500. At $9,300 a month, the unit generates $111,600 a year. Arthur and Esther don’t know if there is a renter in place now. StreetEasy records only show a rental listing from 2015, when the home leased for $9,500 per month — detailing the perch as a “corner apartment” that’s “bright and airy all day,” with added perks of marbled bathrooms and Miele appliances in the kitchen.

The couple says Michelle’s beneficial economic assignment does not give her the right to act on behalf of the LLC, nor does it automatically make her a member of the LLC, which the parents established to buy the apartment in July 2012 for $2.6 million.

The Haruvis are asking the federal court to block the sale, appoint a receiver to take control of the property, compel an accounting of all diverted rent and officially declare that Michelle has no legal authority to act on behalf of the LLC that owns the Sheffield apartment.

“Michelle began to pursue a coordinated campaign to claim a greater portion of Plaintiffs’ estate, including their portfolio of multifamily residential buildings in New York City,” according to the suit.

Still, none of it seems to be stopping Michelle. The unit popped up for sale on Wednesday — the same day the complaint was filed — asking $2.79 million, according to a StreetEasy listing update. Its listing reps from City Zen Realty didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Family feuds, legal and financial troubles have plagued the family, and their portfolio, for decades.

COVID-19 dealt a major blow to the family portfolio’s bottom line, slashing rental income and driving their $53 million mortgage into default.

When Arthur and his brother Abe restructured their seven-building Manhattan portfolio during the pandemic, the $165 million deal netted Abe an $80 million payout and brought in landlord Peter Hungerford to manage the properties. But Michelle, who also held a stake in the portfolio, claimed she was completely blindsided by the deal and promptly sued her father and Hungerford in 2022, the Real Deal reported.

In January 2024, a court dismissed her suit in its entirety, and Michelle appealed that decision. In 2025, an appellate court reversed the decision. The case is ongoing, as a bankruptcy case filed by the family company in June 2026 put a pause on the appeal.

Her attorney in the appeal declined to comment.

Arthur and Abe have also had their legal battles, accusing each other in court of stealing from the family business built by their father, Jacob, alongside claims of gross mismanagement.