We’ve had a lot of post about the problem with squatters. Now comes a recent report from FOX News about a Brooklyn landlord named Thomas Diana who says he has spent nearly a decade trying to remove a tenant from one of his apartments, accumulating hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid rent and legal expenses while the case remains tied up in court. Mr. Diana, who owns an eight-unit building, said the dispute began after a woman moved into an apartment in 2014 as a live-in companion for an elderly, disabled tenant. She had responded to a Craigslist advertisement seeking caregiving assistance.
In addition, the report says that after the elderly tenant died in 2016, questions emerged regarding the woman’s legal right to remain in the apartment, her responsibility for rent payments, and whether the unit was still protected under New York’s rent-stabilization laws. The disagreement triggered years of litigation across multiple courts and legal proceedings. Mr. Diana argues that repeated delays have prevented a final resolution, leaving him unable to regain possession of the apartment or collect rent while the legal battle continues.
“This has gone on for nine years. Nothing about this is justice,” Diana told Fox News Digital. “Every time the case gets close to resolution, there’s another delay, another lawyer change, another new story.”
Click here to read the full story at FOX News.
