Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz is sparring with a real estate company after its officials denied treating two of his constituents improperly.

Dinowitz and Joel Wiener, the president of the controversial Pinnacle Group, exchanged sharply worded letters last week over cases in Riverdale and Norwood buildings. The two eventually spoke on the phone and agreed to meet and address the issues, but Dinowitz is still skeptical about Wiener’s management practices.

“He painted a nice enough picture,” Dinowitz said, “but I had another tenant complaint yesterday.”

Dinowitz contends that Pinnacle overcharged an 89-year-old tenant living on Henry Hudson Parkway and then gave his office the runaround for months as his staff tried to resolve the issue. Wiener said he never received any correspondence regarding the matter, and that the building is owned by his brother, not himself.

“Since Pinnacle is not the managing agent and is not affiliated in any way with the managing agent, Pinnacle was not notified about [the overcharge],” said the company in a statement.

But Pinnacle and the property’s management share the same address and supervising staff. “It’s all going to the same office,” said Terri Colon, a Dinowitz staffer.

Colon was also trying to help a tenant at 215 E. Gun Hill Road who received a hefty rent hike. Rent stabilization law allows for the series of retroactive increases, but they aren’t usually done all at once, according to Colon. When they didn’t receive it, Pinnacle sued the tenant.

Colon says that the case against the resident, who is disabled, was dropped because she was hospitalized.

Pinnacle officials denied they demanded immediate payment. “The amount is payable at the tenant’s option over 13 months,” said Pinnacle through a spokesman at the Marino Organization, a public relations firm.

But complaints about Pinnacle — which has snapped up hundreds of buildings in low-income areas citywide — continue to grow. In six previous stories, the Norwood News has documented the plight of tenants after their properties were purchased by Pinnacle, including scores of lawsuits, threatening letters, harassment and inflated improvement costs.

Over 100 tenants from Harlem and Washington Heights met two weeks ago in their campaign against the company. Pinnacle residents in Crown Heights also recently shared their concerns with state Senator Carl Andrews and a representative from the state attorney general’s office. In Harlem, Council members Inez Dickens and Robert Jackson have become involved.

“Fraud and harassment are against the law,” said Dickens, responding to tenant concerns about large capital improvement bills and allegations that property managers have bullied them.

Pinnacle continues to assert that its intention is to turn around troubled properties through large-scale improvements. Dinowitz remains wary. 

“I don’t have a problem with real improvements, but that’s not always the case,” he said, referring to landlords who make building renovations as a way to increase their rent roll.

Possibly in response to the growing concern, Pinnacle recently made a large donation to a Harlem youth group run by Reverend C. Vernon Mason, a lawyer involved in the controversial Tawana Brawley case in the 1980s. Project Youth Turn, which helps at-risk young people, recently received $500,000 from the company.

Dinowitz is skeptical. “I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, but Philip Morris did the same thing,” he said, referring to the cigarette manufacturer. “They did bad things and made contributions in many communities to earn support.”

The Pinnacle spokesman said the company does not comment on their charitable giving.