New York City Council Member Ritchie Torres, left, and Housing Rights Initiative Executive Director Aaron Carr address a news conference outside Kushner Companies headquarters, in New York, Monday, March 19, 2018. The pair called for an investigation into a report by AP and a tenants' rights watchdog that Jared Kushner's family real estate company routinely filed false paperwork declaring it had zero rent-regulated tenants in dozens of buildings it owned in New York when it actually had hundreds. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
New York City Council Member Ritchie Torres, left, and Housing Rights Initiative Executive Director Aaron Carr address a news conference outside Kushner Companies headquarters, in New York, Monday, March 19, 2018. The pair called for an investigation into a report by AP and a tenants' rights watchdog that Jared Kushner's family real estate company routinely filed false paperwork declaring it had zero rent-regulated tenants in dozens of buildings it owned in New York when it actually had hundreds. (AP Photo/Richard Drew) Credit: ap — Richard Drew

New York — A New York City Council member launched an investigation on Monday into the Kushner Cos.’ routine filing of paperwork falsely claiming zero rent-regulated tenants in its buildings, saying that the deception should have been uncovered long ago because the documents are online for all to see.

Councilman Ritchie Torres said the city’s buildings department should have spotted the falsified numbers because they were contradicted by tax documents filed with another city agency.

“The scandal is not only the deception of Kushner Cos.; the scandal is the dysfunction of the city bureaucracy,” said Torres, chairman of the City Council’s investigations committee. “The right hand of city government didn’t know what the left hand was doing.”

The Associated Press reported on Sunday that a tenants’ rights watchdog found the Kushner Cos. had filed more than 80 documents for 34 buildings across the city between 2013 and 2016 stating it had no rent-regulated units. But tax documents showed more than 300 rent-regulated units.

The falsified documents allowed the Kushner Cos. to escape extra scrutiny during construction projects, when the family real estate developer was run by Jared Kushner, who is now senior adviser to his father-in-law, President Donald Trump.

Housing Rights Initiative, a watchdog group, said the falsified documents made it easier for the Kushner Cos. to harass rent-regulated tenants so that it could push out low-paying tenants and replace them with higher- paying ones.

Current and former tenants of three buildings in Queens, N.Y., once owned by the Kushner Cos. told the AP that they were subjected to extensive construction, with banging, drilling, dust and leaking water, that they believe was part of targeted harassment to get them to leave.

Tax records show rent-regulated units that numbered as many as 94 when Kushner took over fell to 25 by 2016. The Kushner Cos. sold the three Queens buildings last year for $60 million, nearly 50 percent more than it paid.

Also on Monday, the Office of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said it was looking into the issue and planned a meeting with tenants’ representatives in coming days.

The Kushner Cos. said in a news release on Monday “the investigation is trying to create an issue where none exists. Kushner Companies did not intentionally falsify (Department of Buildings) filings in an effort to harass tenants.”

The company said it outsources the preparation of such documents to third parties and they are reviewed by independent counsel.

Jared Kushner, who stepped down as CEO of the Kushner Cos. last year before taking on his advisory role at the White House, sold off part of his real estate holdings as required under government ethics rules. But he retained stakes in many properties, including Westminster Management, the Kushner Cos. subsidiary that oversees its residential properties. A financial disclosure last year showed he still owns a stake in Westminster and earned $1.6 million from it.