Homeowners across the country have had their lives turned upside down this year by people who have brazenly repossessed their homes, often leading to lengthy legal proceedings and costing thousands.
Florida, Georgia, AlabamaWest Virginia and New York passed laws this year that ban squatting, increase criminal penalties or legally facilitate lengthy removal proceedings in court following high-profile squatter cases.
1. Squatter charged after allegedly taking over $1M in property, homeowner arrested for changing locks
According to the Queens District, on Feb. 29, Brian Rodriguez forced his way back into Adele Andaluro’s $1 million home in Queens, N.Y., after he changed the locks when she tried to close the door. So he blocked the way to enter the house. lawyer
When he claimed he was a legal tenant and Andalu was trying to legally evict him, the police had no choice but to evict Andalu from the property. i New York, It is against the law to turn off utilities, change locks and remove belongings of someone who claims to be a tenant.
Adele Andaluro’s home in Flushing, Queens was allegedly taken over by Brian Rodriguez and a group of subletting squatters. (Google Maps)
He was forced to take his case to the Queens District Attorney where an investigation was launched – two months after Andalu was pulled over by police on his property, Rodriguez was finally arrested, and he Pleaded not guilty. A five-count indictment.
Rodriguez, 35, faces charges of second-degree burglary, fourth-degree grand larceny, Fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property, second-degree criminal trespass and fourth-degree criminal mischief. Although she has been evicted from Andalu’s house, a criminal case is pending against her.
Brian Rodriguez arrives at Queens Supreme Court on May 13, 2024 in New York. (Barry Williams for Fox News Digital)
Homeowner Arrested For Squatter Charges, Changing Locks After Alleged Foreclosure Of $1M Property
2. New York squatters allegedly killed woman and stuffed her in a duffel bag.
A teenage squatter was allegedly beaten up by a couple. Mother of New York Nadia Vitale was found dead in her Manhattan apartment in March.
Vitel, 52, was Found dead in duffel bag On March 14, her son hid under a pile of coats in her 19th-floor East 31st Street apartment. Fox News Digital reported earlier. Her beloved dog was alone at the scene.
Nadia Vattel (Nadia Vitel on Facebook)
Haley Tejada, 19, and Kensley Alston, 18, fled the scene in Vettel’s Lexus SUV toward Pennsylvania when they hit Vettel and bagged her while she was breathing, prosecutors said. .
Before the pair were caught nine days later, they went shopping. With Vitel credit cards. District Attorney Alvin Bragg wrote in a press release that his purchases included clothes, food, AirPods, a PS5 and a diamond ring.
Tejada and Allston were charged with second-degree murder, burglary, robbery, criminal possession of stolen property, grand theft and concealing a human corpse, according to the indictment.
3. Wyoming Realtor Gets Anti-Squatter Legislation After Fierce Contest
Even Residents of WyomingAmerica’s least populous state has been plagued by squatters commanding their homes. Rona Borrell, who has sold houses in the state for five decades, helped set new anti-squatter legislation in motion after her horrific encounter.
He told Fox News Digital that his run-in with squatters began when he evicted a former legal tenant from his property for non-payment.
“I thought the property was vacant,” he recalled. “I was walking into the property, and I heard footsteps, and I thought, ‘What the hell?'”
Then he saw a large, unfamiliar man at the top of the stairs.
This view shows the damage to one of Rona Borrell’s properties apparently caused by squatters. (Rona Borrell)
“He says, ‘Who are you and what are you doing on this property?'” Borrell recalled. “I said, ‘Who are you, and what are you doing on this property? I can ask you the same thing.'”
Suddenly, “men were coming out of every corner of the house like cockroaches,” Borrell said.
Five other men came and told him they had a lease on the property, but couldn’t get any paperwork done. Borrell told them she had owned the building in Casper since the 80s.
She said she would return with the police in the morning, but both the local police and the sheriff’s department told her they could not help and that she would have to pursue the matter in civil court.
“The next morning, I went back with an older fellow. We opened the lock and they left. But the place was trashed: dirty clothes, dirty mattresses, needles and drug paraphernalia everywhere,” she said. said “I started trashing the property. It cost me between $15,000 and $18,000.”
At that point, he contacted state senior Jim Anderson. Both were surprised to find that sitting as far as coastal states like California and New York was not a problem.
After being approved 10-4 by the state legislature’s Joint Judiciary Committee, the Wyoming bill now needs to pass on the state Senate floor. If passed into law, the bill would make squatting a practice that includes destruction of property. A serious crime Sentenced to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Squatters are facing resistance, along with Red State pressure to protect landlords
4. Texas Homeowners Who Finally Evicted Squatters ‘Treated Like Criminals’
After finally evicting a contractor-turned-squatter from their new home, a couple Texas Homeowners He said law enforcement made him feel like a misfit during his two-month ordeal.
Yodith Matthews and Navy veteran Abram Mendez, who bought a San Antonio home for their growing family, said they felt “powerless.” Legal system that “homeowners … and the working class take advantage” of “entitled” squatters, even when their safety is at risk.
Navy veteran Abram Mendez and his wife, Yudith Matthews, said they plan to move to a bigger house in San Antonio. But that timeline was affected by his protracted battle with a contractor-turned-squatter. (Judith Matthews)
When the couple hired a handyman to fix up their new home, he asked to stay indoors on a couch. When they realized he had accumulated an alarming amount of merchandise inside, they called the San Antonio Police Department.
When police were first called to the property on Feb. 29, he had not stayed in the home for the 30 days required to be considered a squatter under Texas property law, but the couple claims officers did not verify or check his opposing account. No attempt was made. identify it.
After an extensive legal process and several confrontations, the married couple evicted the squatter two months later. He said it cost him about $17,000 in damages, utilities and court fees, draining the “last real dollars” in his account.
Texas Homeowners Who Finally Evicted Squatters ‘Treated Like Criminals’
5. Squatter pirates are building homes on abandoned boats in Florida.
Squatters in Florida According to officials working to clear the boats, dilapidated boats dumped along the shore are moving fast.
“We’ve actually seen a tremendous increase across the county,” Lt. Michael Dougherty of the Martin County Sheriff’s Office told local media in January. “You’ll have strollers sitting on the boat, it breaks down, there have been a number of incidents where boats have come loose and fallen into the docks.”
The Martin County Sheriff’s Office says it has dealt with dilapidated boats left to rot along the Florida coast, but officials say homeless people are increasingly taking up residence on the boats. The county is located along the southeast coast of Florida and includes cities such as Jupiter Island and Jensen Beach.
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“One of the byproducts of a lot of vessels in our area is that some of these vessels go down hard and become disabled,” Chief Deputy John Bodensek told Fox News Digital. “And as they become defunct, some of these owners will abandon them, or they’ll sell them to someone who won’t re-register the vessel. Those people, in turn, on these boats. shall remain or operate such vessels until they are completely unserviceable and they sink, or they leak fuel, if they have the capacity to carry fuel, or they Human waste leaks, and they become a bin go A real threat to us ecologically“