New York State Assemblyman Jake Blumencranz has introduced an anti-clearance bill following a series of alarming clear-cut incidents across New York.
The proposal aims to simplify the process for homeowners to remove squatters by redefining squatters as trespassers rather than tenants in the legal statute.
“Squatting has become a bit of a crisis,” Blumencranz said Fox and friends Friday. ‘We need common sense legislation.’
Under current New York law, people who claim tenancy after being reported to the police for trespassing cannot be immediately arrested for trespassing.
Instead, homeowners must initiate lengthy eviction proceedings through the court system, a process that typically takes two years in the city and can cost thousands in legal fees.
New York State Assemblyman Jake Blumencranz has introduced an anti-squatting bill following a series of alarming squatting-related incidents across New York
Nadia Vitels, 52, was found dead in an apartment in Manhattan’s Kip’s Bay on Thursday after she was beaten to death and stuffed in a suitcase by two squatters
Adele Andaloro, 47, inherited her family’s property in Flushing, Queens and hoped to sell it – but was stopped dead in her tracks when squatters moved in last month
Squatters in New York gain legal rights after 30 days, preventing homeowners from changing locks, removing possessions or cutting off utilities without risking arrest themselves.
“It’s an unfortunate upside-down world,” Blumencranz, a Republican who represents District 15, added ABC 7. ‘They know how to work the law to stay for a certain number of days to work the system.’
“People can stay in houses for years, years without getting them vindicated to essentially live for free and have homeowners foot the bill,” Blumencranz added.
“We make sure squatters can’t take advantage of the law, that’s all we do,” Blumencranz said.
Blumencranz’s proposal comes in the wake of a series of incidents, including a mother found murdered and stuffed in a bag in her New York City apartment after a pair of squatters beat her to death.
It also comes on the heels of a Queens homeowner’s arrest for changing the locks on people she claims are squatting in her residence, as well as the earlier report of a Douglaston family’s fight to occupy their $2 million home over a rejection from a person about to leave.
Nadia Vitels, 52, was found dead in her East 31st Street apartment in Manhattan’s Kips Bay on March 14 after her family called the building inspector to do a wellness check.
The medical examiner ruled her death a homicide Friday after an autopsy revealed she died of multiple facial fractures, a brain hemorrhage, two broken ribs and blunt force trauma to the head.
Now the NYPD’s chief of detectives says the suspects were squatting in Vitels’ apartment. The residents were arrested on Friday.
“We think some squatters took over the apartment and this woman came home … and walked in on the squatters that were there,” Kenny said.
Her family told him they hadn’t heard from her in a few days, so he went up to her apartment to check on her and saw signs that something was wrong
The police remove evidence from the home where Vitels’ body was found
A photo of Vitels’ social media shows her pictured with a Ukrainian flag
The two suspects were seen driving off in Vitel’s Lexus SUV around the time they believe she died and even captured on surveillance footage that has yet to be released to the public.
Kenny added that the unique design of the ‘upscale apartment’ meant they may have been able to hide from the Vitels for some time.
“The apartment itself is very unique in that there is no front door to the apartment. You take an elevator up and then you settle in. The elevator is actually your front door,’ Kenny told the New York Post.
Michael Medvedev, Vitels’ son, made the grisly discovery of his mother’s body when he returned with building superintendent Jean Pompee, who has lived there for 22 years, after Vitels had not been seen for 48 hours.
“As they get ready to leave, the son opens the closet door near the front door and discovers the bag with a foot sticking out,” Kenny said.
While the suspects — one of whom has a prior arrest record — remain on the loose after driving Vitels’ car as of Thursday night, police believe they are on the right track.
“Right now we have probable cause, we have two subjects, we have the regional fugitive task force actively hunting as we speak,” Kenny said.
Also this month, a New York City woman was arrested after a heated confrontation with a squatter who claimed he had the rights to live in her million-dollar family home.
Andaloro entered the home, flanked by reporters, after an unidentified woman unlocked the door. Inside, she was met by two men who were eventually taken away by the police
Adele Andaloro, 47, inherited property on a quiet street in Flushing, Queens. She planned to sell it, but noticed that someone had replaced the front door and changed the locks.
She was surprised to learn that someone had moved in last month and refused to leave.
‘It’s upsetting. It really is,’ Andaloro told ABC7 New York. ‘It is not fair that I, as a homeowner, have to go through this.’
In New York State, squatters who occupy a property openly and adversely for 10 continuous years can make an adverse possession claim, provided they have paid property taxes during that decade.
In New York City, however, squatters gain rights after just 30 days, meaning landlords must begin eviction proceedings as soon as a squatter is discovered.
This week, a TikTok influencer advises his followers on how to ‘invade’ American homes and invoke squatters’ rights, making it difficult for them to be removed from properties.
Leonel Moreno, who goes by @leitooficial_25 online and appears to be a Venezuelan migrant, has told his supporters that under US law, ‘if a house is not inhabited, we can seize it’.
He is referring to squatters’ rights or adverse possession laws – a common legal principle that allows an illegal occupant to acquire title to a property based on continuous occupation without the legal owner’s consent.
Moreno, who claimed he has friends who have ‘already taken about seven homes’, argued that the only way migrants cannot live on the streets or be a ‘public burden’ is to ‘seize’ and ‘invade ‘ abandoned properties.
Leonel Moreno, who goes by @leitooficial_25 online and appears to be a Venezuelan migrant, has been advising his followers on how to ‘invade’ US homes and invoke squatter rights, making it difficult for them to be removed from properties
Moreno’s video comes amid a squatting crisis in the United States. Homeowner Adele Andolaro caught three squatters in this home in Flushing, Queens, New York earlier this week
The now-viral video, which has been viewed nearly 4 million times, has sparked outrage from many social media users. Some have argued that Moreno is ‘promoting terrorism’ and are now calling on the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security to take action.
Squatters’ rights laws exist in all 50 states and have sparked a crisis across the nation. ‘Serial squatters’ are overtaking homes and helpless families driven from their homes by thugs are desperately turning to vigilantes to reclaim their homes.
Moreno, who is believed to live in a suburb of Columbus, Ohio with his partner and their infant daughter, has amassed more than 501,000 followers on TikTok by making videos targeting migrants.
In a video published four days ago, the migrant flu calls on its followers to take over unoccupied homes.
Moreno, who is believed to live in a suburb of Columbus, Ohio with his partner and their infant daughter, has amassed more than 501,000 followers on TikTok by making videos targeting migrants.
In a video published four days ago, the migrant flu calls on its followers to take over unoccupied homes.