A New York homeowner is in a complicated battle with squatters who have taken over her property. She was arrested for trying to get them out.
Adele Andaloro, who put her $1.2 million Flushing, Queens, residence that she inherited from her family for sale, realized that someone randomly changed the locks, WABC reported. It was squatters that had been occupying the home where she grew up since February. In the city, squatters are considered tenants after living there for 30 days.
One day, Andaloro went to the home with the news station and saw a woman walking out. Because of the cameras, she quickly left the scene. The door was unlocked, so the owner entered the home with her property deed. She discovered two men inside, one of whom was sleeping.
“Who are you, sir? Get out of my house,” she said, according to the report. The man claimed he moved in two days prior and was taken into custody by police. The other person was booted off the property.
Police warned Andaloro that changing the locks could result in her arrest, but she called the locksmith anyway and said she wasn’t leaving her home.
Video recorded by WABC shows the heated dispute between Andaloro and one of the alleged squatters — who barged inside, claimed he was leasing the home, and called law enforcement. He was identified as Brian Rodriguez.
“So why is it that I have to leave, and he doesn’t have to leave?” Andaloro asked one of the officers.
“Technically, he can’t be kicked out. You have to go to court,” the cop responded.
Andaloro was arrested for unlawful eviction. In addition to changing locks on tenants, it’s also against the law for a homeowner to remove tenant possessions or shut off the utilities, per the New York Post.
When a WABC reporter asked Rodriguez for documentation, he refused but eventually showed him a bill. He claimed that he’d done work on the property, adding that he would leave if she paid him or went…
Read the full article here
