TurtleLeaks: For some diplomats, the rent is too damn high

One of the most irresistible U.N. stories of the 1990s was the tale of the U.N. diplomatic scofflaw: high-flying foreign diplomats living largely in New York, but stiffing their landlords of tens of thousands in unpaid rent, tossing their parking tickets in the trash, or mistreating their domestic staff, and all the while hiding behind diplomatic immunity.

At the height of the controversy, the State Department claimed that the U.N. diplomatic community had more than $5.3 million in unpaid bills to realtors, banks, and other New York City establishments.

The issue seems to have died down somewhat in recent years. David Friedman, the president of a collection agency who once handled dozens of diplomatic default cases, told Turtle Bay he hasn’t had one come across his desk in a couple of years. "Most of the landlords got smart over the years," he said. "They would get [a] third party, a wealthy U.S. citizen, to act as a guarantor or require diplomats pay their entire year’s rent in advance."

And yet, a review of still unpublished U.S. diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks shows the problem hasn’t gone away completely. Indeed, the Obama administration’s State Department has been forced to intervene to prod a number of countries into paying their rent on time, according to previously unpublished U.S. cables released by WikiLeaks.

In August 2009, the State Department issued instructions to its diplomats as the U.S. mission to the United Nations to press Azerbaijan to pay nearly $50,000 in unpaid rent to a New York City commercial real estate manager, Vornado Realty Trust. According to the State Department cable, which bore U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton‘s name, Baku had fallen two months behind on its rent at 866 U.N. Plaza.

On the same day, American diplomats were also ordered to take up a similar matter with the government of Comoros. "Department has learned from USUN that the permanent mission of the Union of the Comoros to the United Nations owes $34,564.94 to Vornado Realty Trust in New York City," according to a State Department cable dated August 21, 2009. "The debt is for rent and associated charges for office lease at 866 UN Plaza. We understand that the Comoros Mission has not made a rental payment since September, 2008."

The State Department note, which was unclassified, urged its U.N.-based diplomats to "demarche the Government of Comoros (GOC) to urge that funds are sent promptly to the mission in New York to settle its outstanding arrears." In the event they were at a loss for words, the note offered talking points explaining how to broach the topic. "We urge the government of the Union of Comoros to give this matter serious attention and take the necessary steps to settle this debt and routinely pay monthly rent at its U.N. mission as it has agreed to in its list."

Officials from Comoros did not respond to requests for comment by phone and email on whether the outstanding debts had been paid. An official from Azerbaijan, who identified himself only as Bahrus, assured Turtle Bay, "OK, my friend will call you." He didn’t.

But a leasing agent at Vornado, Jared Solomon, said there were no outstanding debts by diplomatic missions in the building, where Azerbaijan, Comoros, and many other diplomatic missions maintain offices. "It’s not a problem," he said. Solomon said that the company makes prospective client’s governments sign immunity waivers and consent to jurisdiction in New York to resolve disputes. "All of our leases are with government entities; we don’t deal with Bob Jones from Turkmenistan," he said. "We’ve never had to take any of these guys to court."

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