Woke music heiress, 39, has been SQUATTING in Brooklyn apartment for last four years with her refusal to pay rent driving her black landlord into foreclosure, lawsuit claims

By LAUREN ACTON-TAYLOR, US NEWS REPORTER Published: 19:54, 11 August 2026 | Updated: 20:24, 11 August 2026 The daughter of a famed music studio owner is being sued for allegedly squatting in a New York City apartment for years after refusing to pay rent to her landlord. Tracy Rosenthal, the 39-year-old daughter of Steve Rosenthal, has been on a 'rent strike' for the last four years after moving back to the city from Los Angeles.  Rosenthal claimed during a North Carolina Democratic Socialists meeting that her two-bedroom $2,300 apartment in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood was riddled with cockroaches, the New York Post reported.  'As soon as I moved in, I realized that we had roaches... and I lost my mind,' she said at the August meeting. 'I was very angry...it's really gross.' Her landlord allegedly refused to hire an exterminator, according to the daughter of the music legend, who recorded with the likes of Coldplay, the Foo Fighters and David Bowie. Rosenthal discovered that the building was facing foreclosure and allegedly holding more rental units than legally approved, so she organized with her neighbors to all refuse to pay their rent, the outlet reported.  According to the Post, Rosenthal's landlord, Adetunji Akinboboye, lost at least $108,000 from her unit alone and he lost the building to foreclosure in 2023.  'We've been on rent strike ever since,' she championed.  Tracy Rosenthal, the 39-year-old daughter of Steve Rosenthal, has been on a 'rent strike' for the last four years as she faces legal action and eviction  Rosenthal, seen with her dad and stepmom at the 53rd Grammy Awards, grew up in a $1.7 million place in NoMad and attended the Grammys with her father at least twice Rosenthal discovered that her building was facing foreclosure and allegedly holding more rental units than legally approved, so she organized her neighbors to all refuse to pay their rent Rosenthal now faces legal action and eviction from the buildings new owners, US Bank, who claim that she and at least two other tenants have 'squatted on the premises,' records filed in November claim, court documents viewed by the Daily Mail claim. 'That, although respondents might have been entitled to use and/or occupy the premises, any license to use and/or occupy the premises expired upon the judgement in a foreclosure action,' the petition filed by US Bank stated.  Rosenthal was ordered, along with her neighbors, to vacate the residence by November 13, 2025, the filing stated.  '...respondents, after the date set forth in the notice, have failed and/or refused to vacate, quit and surrender possession of the premises,' the document continued.  Online records show that the building on Hancock Street was placed under the Housing Preservation Department’s Alternative Enforcement Program in February.  The program intends to improve housing conditions and order owners and landlords to correct any issues with living conditions, including the maintenance of hot water, mold violations and vermin violations. According to the Post, a notice from the city plastered to the buildings door declared that it had been removed from the program on July 14 after resolving the violations.  Rosenthal grew up in a $1.7 million place in NoMad and attended the Grammy awards with her father, a four-time winner, at least twice, the Post reported.   Rosenthal has been a long-time tenant activist across NYC and LA and even penned her own book on the subject; 'Abolish Rent' Rosenthal has championed tactics including camping outside of a landlord's home, shaming them to their family, friends and/or neighbors or leaving 'really bad Yelp reviews' Rosenthal seen in a recent mini-documentary from Mayor Mamdani's office centered around how a group of tenants successfully 'took on one of the worst landlords in NYC' Yet, she has been a long-time tenant activist across NYC and LA and even penned her own book on the subject; 'Abolish Rent.' On her website, the activist said the book, co-authored with Leonardo Vilchis, 'takes aim at one of the foremost engines of inequality and injustice.' 'With unsparing analysis and striking stories of resistance, this deeply reported account centers poor and working-class people who are fighting back, staying put and remaking the city in the process,' the site states. 'Rent drives millions into debt and despair and onto the streets, but tenants can harness our power and make the world our home.' The book includes ways for neighbors and tenants to unionize against landlords, including making collective demands and organizing rent strikes. The pair co-founded the largest tenants’ union in the country, Los Angeles Tenants Union.  In an interview with Jacobin, Rosenthal discussed rent strikes - either the withholding of rent money or refusing the vacate - and her own experience with US Bank. 'One of the reasons that I’ve managed to live on rent strike for two years is that my landlord is US Bank. The economic sanction on the bank is miniscule. The amount of money might be irrelevant to a bank, but to everyone who lives in my building, it is a massive transformation of all of our lives,' she told the outlet in October of 2024.  Rosenthal has championed tactics including camping outside of a landlord's home, shaming them to their family, friends and/or neighbors or leaving 'really bad Yelp reviews,' the Post reported.  In July, Rosenthal co-authored a piece in The Nation with Sumathy Kumar praising the New York City Rent Guidelines Board approval of a rent freeze Rosenthal's book includes ways for neighbors and tenants to unionize against landlords, including making collective demands and organizing rent strikes In one instance, Rosenthal and a tenant union were seen on social media crashing the wedding of a landlord's child in Beverly Hills in 2023 with signs protesting the landlord.  In July earlier this year, Rosenthal co-authored a piece in The Nation with Sumathy Kumar praising the New York City Rent Guidelines Board approval of a rent freeze - fulfilling a key promise of Mayor Zohran Mamdani's campaign.  'Thanks to a 7-1 vote by New York City's Rent Guidelines Board, 2.4 million rent-stabilized tenants will be able to claim one- and two-year leases with 0 percent rent increases starting October 1,' Rosenthal and Kumar wrote.  'Organized tenants made this victory possible. We knew what our landlords would rather we ignored: that rent is political, and that we have the ability to control it. But there is more to be done to seize the city’s tools and take power from landlords and real estate directly.  'We need to build majorities at the building, portfolio, and state levels - majority tenant unions in our buildings and portfolios, and a massive movement that can credibly represent half the state.' The mayor championed the approval as a 'historic victory for New York City tenants' in a statement at the time.  Rosenthal even appeared in a recent mini-documentary from Mayor Mamdani's office centered around how a group of tenants successfully 'took on one of the worst landlords in NYC.' According to the Post, Rosenthal wrote on her now-private Instagram in June: 'Absolute banner year for tenant power... so much is possible when we organize.'  The Daily Mail attempted to reached Tracy Rosenthal, her attorney Daniel Nakos, US Bank's attorney Joseph Goldsmith and Steve Rosenthal for comment.