A Manhattan judge has awarded the family LLCs $16.5 million in damages in the long-running dispute involving Mehrnaz Homapour and her brother, Mark Harounian, over the family’s real estate companies. The ruling also addresses a separate $5.28 million in unpaid distributions, while rejecting Homapour’s claim that Harounian deceived her into signing the companies’ operating agreements. The Real Deal reported the decision.
The amounts are not interchangeable: the $16.5 million award is subject to a credit for Harounian equal to 6 percent of gross rents for certain LLCs he managed from 2012 through 2022. The $5.28 million in distributions is a separate sum the judge determined Homapour is owed, and Harounian must authorize those payments. As of publication, a judgment had not yet been entered on the docket, and Harounian’s lawyer said the award would be challenged on appeal, according to The Real Deal.
Separate findings on company money and the agreements
Following a trial focused on Harounian’s compensation for managing the businesses, Judge Joel Cohen found that he diverted company funds for personal expenses and inflated invoices in a scheme to get around rent regulations, The Real Deal reported. Cohen rejected Homapour’s fraud claim, finding she had not met the clear-and-convincing-evidence standard to show that her brother tricked her into signing the operating agreements. He also declined to rescind those agreements, leaving the companies’ existing structure in place.
The invoice finding has a specific regulatory backdrop: New York State Homes and Community Renewal advises owners to keep documentation of apartment improvements and related rent increases. That guidance explains why renovation records can matter; it does not establish the facts of the Harounian case. HCR’s guidance is separate from Cohen’s findings.
Comparable cases, not evidence about this family
Other New York matters illustrate why renovation-cost records can become an enforcement issue, but they involve different owners and properties. In an August 23, 2022 matter, the state Attorney General said landlord LLCs affiliated with Sentinel Real Estate inflated renovation costs in an effort to deregulate rent-stabilized apartments and accepted contractor kickbacks; those owners used Newcastle Realty Services and Highcastle Management as management firms. That case was not connected to the Harounian family. The Attorney General’s account describes a separate enforcement matter.
In another distinct matter, the Attorney General and HCR filed a lawsuit on December 1, 2025, alleging that Peak Capital used false affidavits to support deregulation claims involving buildings in Brooklyn and Queens. Those allegations remain part of separate litigation, not findings about Harounian. The examples show different cases in which renovation or deregulation documentation drew scrutiny; they do not establish a trend or prove anything beyond the findings in this dispute. The agencies’ announcement sets out the Peak allegations.
A family company dispute spanning years
The case grew out of a family real estate business built by Jacob Harounian, who moved from Iran, made money in the rug trade and later assembled a Manhattan rental portfolio. Mark took over management while his sister Homapour held a minority stake. She sued in 2015, alleging misuse of company resources and fraud related to the operating agreements; those claims were allegations until the judge’s findings and rulings at trial. The Real Deal’s earlier coverage described the case’s path to trial.
Homapour’s lawyers characterized the decision as a win for minority members in closely held New York entities. Harounian’s lawyer argued that she should recover nothing and said he would appeal. The outcome leaves the operating agreements intact while awarding damages and requiring the separate distributions, with the final docketed judgment still outstanding.
