A homeowner in New York underwent an ordeal that culminated in their arrest after taking action to secure their property upon discovering unfamiliar individuals inhabiting it.
In February the homeowner, Adele Andaloro, found her property accessed through a different entrance. Over subsequent days, she observed an individual, identified as Brian Rodriguez, within the premises. Andaloro later discovered more people residing in the house, none of whom she had any association with or had leased the property to.
When Andaloro decided to change the locks, Rodriguez called the police on her asserting legal rights to the unit. Subsequently, Andaloro was apprehended and removed from the property, though no charges were filed against her. An investigation launched by the Queens District Attorney’s office resulted in Rodriguez being indicted on charges including burglary for his alleged unlawful occupation of the property and subletting to others. Rodriguez pleaded not guilty to the charges, denying claims of squatting and expressing willingness to return the property to Andaloro.
The incident is one of many squatting cases in New York, where state regulations afford certain protections to individuals who have resided on a property for a designated period of 30 days. Although authorities maintain that occupying a property without legal entitlement is unlawful for the longest time little was done to prevent such incidents from occurring.
Finally in response to such challenges, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced plans to reinforce existing laws distinguishing between squatters and tenants in her Fiscal 2025 budget proposal, aiming to clarify and strengthen the delineation between the two categories.
Squatter “epidemic” is serious problem throughout the country. Some states declared that they will not tolerate such illegal activities with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis officially enacting legislation to increase penalties for squatters and grant law enforcement enhanced authority to pursue them.
The issue was left for local authorities to deal with. Federal government is yet to address this issue with President Joe Biden never mentioning it in his speeches and presidential campaign as if it doesn’t exist. The issue needs a high profile bill that would allow police to immediately evict squatters considering the growth of this America endangering phenomenon.
