RE Exec Sues Over $195,000 Rental of Hamptons "Dump"

Imagine plunking down $195,000 for a six-week rental only to find it was a dump? That's what happened to New York real estate executive Keith Rubenstein when he rented what he thought was a luxury Southampton beach house on New York's Long Island last summer for six weeks. Or so he alleges. The oceanfront estate turned out to be a "nightmare" with "dangerous conditions," including cracked pool paving stones, loose and splintering beach-deck boards, a debris-filled pool, broken front steps and a "thorn-filled" path that led to the beach, he charges.

Rubenstein, of real estate firm Somerset Partners, filed suit earlier this week in York State Supreme Court in Manhattan. He's seeking to recoup at least a quarter of the rental fee ($68,250) and the $19,500 security deposit.