Alexander brothers take leave of absence from Official after rape allegations emerge

Tal and Oren Alexander have taken leaves of absence from Official Partners, the Side-brokered firm they co-founded, after the brothers were accused of sexual assault in separate lawsuits.

The New York Times first reported Tal Alexander’s leave of absence from Official on Tuesday. This came two weeks after his younger brother, Oren, took his own leave of absence. Additionally, Oren Alexander’s real estate license is no longer active in New York or Florida.

There are currently three separate lawsuits filed in New York by three women who accuse the brothers of sexually assaulting them. Two of the cases only name Oren Alexander and his twin brother, Alon Alexander, who is not involved in the real estate industry. The third suit names all three brothers as defendants.

Nicole Oge, one of Official’s five co-founders, told the Times that the firm’s decision to place Tal and Oren on leave was mutual.

“I think Tal and Oren understand that their priority is focusing on the task at hand for them, which is different from mine,” Oge said. “Mine is focused on our business.”

The first two suits were filed in early March with the Supreme Court of the State of New York in New York County by Rebecca Mandel and Kate Whiteman. The suits name Oren and Alon Alexander as defendants.

Mandel and Whiteman claim that the brothers assaulted, battered and raped them in separate incidents in 2010 and 2012, respectively. The complaints also allege that Oren and Alon Alexander engaged in a similar pattern of behavior against other women.

Additionally, Evan Torgan of Torgan Cooper + Aaron told The Real Deal — which first reported on the Mandel and Whiteman suits — that roughly 30 alleged victims had contacted his office, some of whom had named Tal Alexander in their allegations.

The most recent lawsuit, in which Tal Alexander is also named as a defendant, was filed by Angelica Parker, formerly known as Angelica Cecora. She alleges that when she went to visit an apartment in New York City in 2012, where the three brothers lived, she was caught in an attack allegedly orchestrated by Oren Alexander, in which Alon and Tal Alexander raped her as Oren “sat and watched.”

In an emailed statement from Deanna Paul of Walden Macht & Haran LLP, an attorney for Tal Alexander, Parker’s suit is being moved to federal court.

“Given the salacious nature of this false allegation and impact on Official, Tal and his partners have decided he will take a leave from the company to focus fully on clearing his name. He won’t allow these claims to be a further distraction to the company or its clients,” Paul wrote.

All three of the lawsuits were filed under an extension of New York’s Gender-Motivated Violence Protection Law, which allows survivors who were over the age of 18 at the time of an assault to sue their alleged perpetrators regardless of how long ago the crime occurred. The window to file a lawsuit closes in March 2025.

The Alexanders co-founded Official in 2022, after moving The Alexander Team to Side from Douglas Elliman.