Long Beach councilman to settle rent case

The landlord who sued to evict Long Beach City Councilman Michael Fagen over $12,000 in unpaid rent will withdraw the case this week now that Fagen has made arrangements to pay.

Fagen, a Democratic councilman since 2009, owes landlord Jason Schatzberg the money for more than four months of rent, according to court papers filed in Long Beach City Court.

But Fagen has made arrangements to pay and will be able to stay at the home he rents from Schatzberg on Armour Street in the Canals neighborhood of the East End, Leslie Martin Shamis, an attorney for Schatzberg, said Monday. Fagen said last month that he had withheld rent because the heat in the house did not work.

Fagen is due in Long Beach city court on Thursday -- the day the case will be withdrawn, Shamis said. "The petition is going to be withdrawn and the case will be over," he said.

The end of the case will likely bring to a close city officials' concerns about whether Fagen could remain a city councilman if he was evicted. City codes require councilmen to have a permanent residence within Long Beach city limits.

Fagen and his attorney in the case, Jerome Scharoff of Garden City, could not be reached Monday.

An unrelated criminal case against Fagen continues Tuesday at District Court in Hempstead. He was indicted in February on felony charges that he illegally collected more than $14,000 in unemployment benefits.

A trial date likely will be set Tuesday, said Chris Munzing, spokesman for the Nassau district attorney's office. He declined to comment further.

Fagen's attorney in that case, Marc Gann of Mineola, has said the trial will likely begin in September.

Investigators found Fagen hid his government job from the state to collect the unemployment benefits, prosecutors said.

Fagen has denied the allegation.