Allegations of deed theft leveled against an incumbent assemblymember in South Brooklyn are roiling a Democratic primary race on the eve of Election Day.
The claims against Assemblymember Jaime Williams date back to July 2020, when she and her husband were sued and accused of deed fraud by her mother-in-law, Elizabeth Logan.
Logan claimed that Williams and her husband Phillip Williams “fraudulently” deceived her into signing over the deed to Logan’s three-family home in a “series of schemes” to remove her “from the property by hook or crook.” Phillip Williams then sued to evict his mother, Logan, and stepfather, Gabriel Logan, later that year, court records show.
The saga has reemerged in a series of scathing social media videos and accusations between family members as Williams faces a challenge from Jibreel Jalloh, a Southeast Brooklyn community activist and nonprofit leader, in the Democratic primary for the 59th Assembly District.
Williams has denounced the accusations, which she denies, as a “desperate attempt to sway an election.” But the high-profile claims come as elected officials and community leaders sound the alarm on the risk of fraud, theft and family disputes targeting valuable properties, particularly in sections of Brooklyn and Queens.
Property records from 2014 show Logan transferred the property to Phillip Williams through a “life estate deed,” which would have entitled Logan to remain in the home.
But in an interview on Saturday, Jaime Williams’ stepdaughter, Jessica Jones, told Gothamist that her father Phillip tricked Logan, his mother, into signing over the deed to the home on Avenue O in the Flatlands section of Brooklyn starting in 2014 – echoing claims from the 2020 lawsuit.
Two years later, in 2016, property records show Jaime Williams was added to a new life estate deed. The document lists former Brooklyn Democratic Party boss Frank Seddio as attorney. A third deed in 2019 removed Logan from ownership and also lists an “attorney at law” with Seddio’s office address. Seddio has been accused in separate lawsuits of aiding in an investment scheme and preventing alleged victims from receiving $2 million.
Property records show the most recent deed is dated 2023 and lists only Jaime Williams and Phillip Williams as owners.
Jaime Williams has claimed between $5,000 and $20,000 in rental income from her primary residence in 2024 and 2025, according to annual financial disclosure forms. On the forms, she also lists her marital status as “single,” despite the pair referring to each other as husband and wife in a video and statement responding to the claims. She did not respond to questions about the apparent discrepancy on disclosure forms.
Jones said Jaime Williams and Phillip Williams locked Logan and her husband out of the home while they were traveling.
“She worked all these years, saved her money to buy her house and now has to be a refugee,” Jones said in an interview. “They basically got away with stealing my grandparents’ house.”
In a lengthy written statement, Williams characterized the saga as a “longstanding dispute between a daughter and her father, who happens to be my husband.”
“Let me be clear: deed theft is a serious crime,” she added. “It has devastated families, stolen generational wealth, and harmed homeowners throughout New York City. It is not a political talking point, and it should never be weaponized for campaign purposes.
Williams also posted a video on her campaign Facebook page on Sunday night with what she called “The truth behind the lies [and] baseless attacks with no facts.”
In the video, Phillip Williams denied the claims and blamed his daughter, Jones, for reigniting the drama. He called Jalloh, Jaime Williams’ primary challenger, a “fraud” for amplifying the lawsuit and Jones’ argument.
“Nobody stole no house,” Phillip Williams said in the video. “You try to use my deranged daughter to discredit Jaime so you could get some votes.”
In a written statement, Jalloh said the allegations "warrant a full and independent investigation."
"The public deserves transparency, accountability, and confidence that the facts will be uncovered wherever they may lead," he said. "Restoring trust in government requires that allegations of this nature be handled thoroughly and without political influence."
The Brooklyn home as it appeared in 2019.
Phillip Williams’ mother, Elizabeth Logan, also briefly spoke in the video, saying she urged her granddaughter Jessica Jones not to speak out about the dispute.
“ I have nothing against Jaime,” Logan said. “What Jessica said, she should not have said it.”
Phillip Williams declined to comment in a brief phone conversation Monday morning. Logan could not be reached for comment.
A 2020 lawsuit resurfaces
Williams was first elected to represent Canarsie, Flatlands, Mill Basin and other nearby Brooklyn neighborhoods in an April 2016 special election to fill a seat vacated by her former boss, Roxanne Persaud, after Persaud won a state senate race.
Last fall, she broke with the Democratic Party to endorse Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa for mayor after sharply opposing migrant shelters in her district and Mayor Eric Adams’ “City of Yes” rezoning plan.
Williams has been endorsed by the Conservative Party, whose chair Donald Cranston, is handling her campaign communications.
The 2020 lawsuit states that Logan was surprised to learn the property she purchased in 2007 had been transferred to her son and his wife, Williams, who had been renting a floor of the home. It also accuses three notaries of attesting to Logan’s signature despite not witnessing her sign the documents – a breach of notary law.
Logan, the lawsuit said, “asserts that she never transferred the subject property at any time.”
The lawsuit also states that Logan “was elderly and ‘confused’” and that Jaime and Phillip Williams “manipulated to contract or convey the subject property illegally.”
A Brooklyn judge dismissed the lawsuit in 2024 after determining there had been no activity in the case for more than a year. Jones said her grandmother, Logan, decided not to pursue the case after her husband died.
