Brett Flores serial squatter demands $100K to leave Queens home as new home owners Joseph and Susana Landa claim ‘illegal tenant’ causing vast damages and running up utility bills amid legal loophole.
From bad to worse… A serial squatter who hijacked a couple’s $2 million Queens home has demanded more than $100,000 before vacating the premises along with trying to bleed the couple with massive utility bills and costly repairs, according to the homeowners.
Joseph and Susana Landa, both 68, are currently embroiled in a months-long eviction struggle with Brett Flores, 32.
They claim that Flores, a NYC nurse has been running up huge bills and even caused a sewage flood at the property, which they bought to live in with their disabled son.
Serial squatter
The couple told FOX5NY, Flores had flooded the backyard by allowing a cesspool to get clogged on the property, which resulted in them being forced to rip up a porch and much of the property’s landscaping.
‘He really knows the system and how to get by it on his own without an attorney, and living rent-free, renting out rooms, drawing income, vandalizing,’ Joseph Landa told the outlet.
The couple say they were also shown evidence that Flores ‘had done this [squatting] before’ at homes in Ohio and California.
According to the couple’s lawyer Anthony Mordente, Flores told the couple he would only leave the property once he was paid in excess $100,000.
Legal loophole
‘We were ready to cough it up, but when we saw his record and met with someone that gave us a brief of his past deeds, we started to get really scared,’ Susana added.
It was after this interaction that they decided to hire a security guard to run a detail on the property.
Susana added: ‘The money’s on the table. We’ve offered the money with our attorney in court in front of a judge, and he said ‘not enough’.
‘So, money’s there, which is fine – painful, and I know what we’re going to be faced with, which will be a house totally torn apart.’
The Landas say they bought the home in Long Island as their family knew the neighborhood well, and had relatives that lived in the area that could help their disabled son Alex if something happened to them.
But they have been unable to move into the mansion for over four months, with Flores using what the Landas’ attorney claims is a ‘legal loophole’ after filing for bankruptcy to delay trial. To boot, Flores has claimed the former owner, Bernie Fernandez, bequeathing the residence to him when he died at the age of 80 on January 12, 2023.
Of note, Flores has to date failed to produce supporting evidence that the former owner gave him permission to remain upon his death.
Landlord-tenant dispute turns vicious
Flores’ attorney confirmed that he was a live-in caretaker for Fernandez who worked ‘around the clock’, but didn’t work for an agency and found the role himself. Along with living rent free at the residence, Flores was paid $3000 a month for his services.
The Landas since buying their nightmare ‘dream home’ a few months after the former owner’s death in October, 2023, have been preempted from moving in along with forced to pay for all of Flores’ utility bills as well as damages as the home has fallen into disrepair.
Along with the flooded sewage pipes, the Landas claim the windows were left wide open despite a cold breeze gripping New York this week, freezing the insides over.
Splattered white paint has been left on several doors, windows and even security cameras, the dailymail reported.
A note purportedly left by Flores on the door of the home told the new owners they ‘don’t have my consent to enter’, and said their attempts to contact him would be ‘interpreted as harassment.’
While the home has fallen into disrepair as the Landas still can’t move in, the Landas also claim Flores was advertising rooms in their home-to-be on rental sites.
Squatter claims being the real victim, harassed
In the online listings, which appear to have been deleted, Flores advertised ‘The Prince Room’ for $50 a night to males, female, couples, families or students looking for a place to stay.
His rental services had even garnered three reviews, suggesting that Flores could have hosted paying renters at the Landa’s home.
On Friday, an attorney representing Flores claimed his client has been ‘misrepresented’ and that his client had been ongoing intimidated by the Landas.
Dennis O’Connell said: ‘There’s definitely more to it… the buyers are not the victims they claim to be.‘
The Landas according to their lawyer have denied engaging in any kind of intimidation.
New York State law defines squatters as having lived in a property for 30 days, at which point the owner must prove a right to the property and proceed with judicial eviction.
To date, Flores has appeared in court nine times, over half of which have occurred since the Landas bought the home. Joseph and Susana Landa are hopeful that a housing court will ‘see through’ what they claim is Brett Flores’ ‘unwarranted’ claims to the residency.
On Saturday, O’Connell also said that Flores has a newborn child who is suffering from a lung disease.
It remains unclear if the child is living inside the home with him.
A court hearing between the landlords and tenants is scheduled for April.
