NYC HOMEOWNER ARRESTED IN DISPUTE WITH SQUATTERS CLAIMING TENNANT RIGHTS

National Review

 

NYC Homeowner Arrested after Heated Disagreement with Squatters Claiming Tenant Rights in $1 Million Home

By DAVID ZIMMERMANN

March 20, 2024 4:47 PM

 

A New York City homeowner was arrested for unlawful eviction after arguing with squatters who, she says, stole her $1 million home last month.

 

The New York Police Department took Adele Andaloro, 47, into custody after she attempted to change the locks on her Queens property that she inherited following her parents’ deaths, ABC Eyewitness News reported Monday. The standoff between Andaloro and the squatters occurred on February 29.

 

In New York City, squatters can claim tenant rights after living on a property for 30 days. This tenant-protection law is much more generous than the one in New York’s statewide law, which requires squatters to remain on a property for ten years before gaining such rights. A squatter refers to any person who unlawfully occupies an uninhabited building without the landlord’s permission.

 

Under New York City law, homeowners cannot change the locks, switch off utilities, or remove personal items belonging to their tenants from a property. The law was created, in part, to fill the city’s vacant and abandoned buildings with people who previously loitered on the streets. However, squatters have taken advantage of it.

 

Andaloro, while trying to sell her home, said she first noticed a problem in February when the front door and locks were changed. “I’m really fearful that these people are going to get away with stealing my home,” she said in a video filmed by the local ABC outlet.

 

To evict a squatter, a property owner must send a ten-day eviction notice and then file a court complaint if the order is disregarded. If a judge approves the complaint, the owner can obtain a summons and have the squatter evicted. Andaloro said this process was tedious and would take too long to resolve the problem.

 

“By the time someone does their investigation, their work, and their job, it will be over 30 days and this man will still be in my home,” she said.

 

Two men were escorted by police off the property after failing to provide documentation. A short while later, a different man claiming to be the tenant leasing the house barged through the front door and had a heated disagreement with Andaloro, who was arrested after police reported to the home a second time.

 

The landlord’s locksmith changed the locks, despite police warning earlier that it was illegal to do so under New York City’s tenant-protection laws.

 

“I may end up in handcuffs today if a man shows up here and says I have illegally evicted him,” Andaloro said before her arrest. “I said ‘let him take me to court as I’ve been told to take him to court’ because today I’m not leaving my house.”

 

She was told that the standoff is a landlord-tenant issue, meaning it has to be resolved in housing court rather than through the police. Andaloro indicated she would pursue an eviction filing in landlord-tenant court.

 

Brian Rodriguez, the allegedly legal tenant, said that is the only way to settle the dispute. “You got to go to court and send me to court,” he said. “Pay me the money and I’ll leave or send me to court.”

 

However, that might take longer than anticipated. According to the Rent Stabilization Association, resolving an eviction case filed in New York City takes an average of 20 months.