A shameless pair of accused squatters have demanded to be named “heirs” to the Long Island home they seized by forging the deceased owner’s signature on documents.
Denton Gayle, 29, and Margaret Grover, 19, allegedly presented a judge with a false lease and a forged signature of the previous owner, Edward Iacono Sr., who died in 2016.
Documents presented to Nassau Housing Court Judge Christopher J. Coschignano showed the couple had apparently rented the house, 39 Brussel Drive, on June 1 for $1,500 a month, court records show.
In the two-year lease the couple allegedly forged, there was a provision that they would become landlords, The New York Post reported.
The latest update in the ongoing saga that has driven neighbors crazy for months is that the couple, who share a dog named Daisy and a son, want to be named “heirs” to the property.
A shameless pair of accused squatters have demanded to be named “heirs” to the Long Island home they seized by forging the deceased owner’s signature on documents.
Denton Gayle, 29, and Margaret Grover, 19 (pictured left and right) allegedly presented a judge with a false lease and a forged signature from the previous owner, Edward Iacono Sr., who died in 2016.
Gayle and Grover filed papers Monday in Nassau Supreme Court asking to be “added as heirs” to the $873,000 home they illegally occupy.
Neighbors who live on the quiet New Hyde Park block have said the 1,597-square-foot two-bedroom single-family home has been vacant for more than a decade after the owner’s death.
They said the house had been in foreclosure since all members of the immediate family who owned it died between 2015 and 2018.
Judge Coschignano ordered Grover and Gayle to vacate the property last month and an eviction is now pending against the couple.
The couple’s attorneys have said they are not squatting and insist they signed a valid lease document from a man they believed was Iacono.
‘We are not trying to game the system or ask for anything unfair, what they are asking for here will allow us to add our own voice and testimony to the record as the courts try to determine what happened here and what the next steps are,’ said attorney William Igbokwe.
The unsavory pair wreaked havoc across the quiet street until they were kicked out in October and have since been allowed to return based on the alleged fake documents.
Concerned neighbors called 911 because they were worried about the couple’s son, since the house has no heat, electricity, hot water, or working bathrooms.
When they returned in January, Gayle allegedly racked up $3,000 worth of parking tickets on his black 2013 Porsche Cayenne, which, according to The chargeIt has a Pennsylvania license plate.
Neighbors who live on the quiet New Hyde Park block have said the 1,597-square-foot two-bedroom single-family home has been vacant for more than a decade after the owner’s death.
When the squatters returned to the home in January, Gayle allegedly racked up $3,000 worth of parking tickets on his black 2013 Porsche Cayenne, which The Post says has a Pennsylvania license plate.
Neighbors complained that Gayle tried to intimidate him after his return by pacing up and down the street and giving them the middle finger, and even allegedly tried to chase an elderly man.
“We really think these people are going to be vindictive,” said one resident, who captured video of Gayle allegedly hitting and kicking the door and using a racial slur while telling him to get out.
Gayle and Grover face charges of acting in a manner harmful to a child since their arrest in October.
Gayle also faces charges of resisting arrest and obstruction of government administration, records show.