Adele Andaloro, a 47-year-old homeowner in NYC, was recently arrested for changing the locks to her $1 million home after it was taken over by squatters.
Andaloro says she inherited her million-dollar home in Flushing, Queens from her parents when they passed away. The NYC homeowner says she was planning on selling the home, which sits on a quiet street, but last month she was stopped dead in her tracks after noticing that someone had replaced the entire front door and changed the locks.
Shortly after discovering this, she was surprised to learn that squatters had moved into her home in February and refused to leave the property. After a standoff with the squatters, the NYC homeowner eventually changed the locks on them to reclaim her home.
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Defending her actions, Andaloro told ABC 7 New York, “By the time that someone does the investigation, their work, and their job, it will be over 30 days and this man will still be in my home. It’s not fair that I, as the homeowner, have to be going through this. I’m really fearful that these people are going to get away with stealing my home.”
In New York State, squatters are granted rights after 30 days, meaning landlords will then have to start the eviction process as soon as a squatter has been discovered. Additionally, in the state, squatters who occupy a property openly and adversely for 10 years, uninterrupted, can make an adverse possession claim, provided they have paid property taxes throughout that decade.
With ABC 7 New York’s Eyewitness News present, Andaloro recently went to her property and during the taping, encountered the people living in her home. Initially, there was a woman who walked up to the house, unlocked the door, and left.
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Having had enough, Andaloro decided to enter her home with her daughter, along with her property deed in hand. As she entered the home and began walking around inside, she said, “This is proving everything I said, this is my furniture, these are my curtains.”
However, it wasn’t just her belongings inside the home, she also found two people. With the cameras rolling, she asks one man sleeping in a bedroom, “Who are you, sir? Get out of my house!” Eyewitness News asked one of the men how long he had been living in the home and he said, “I moved in two days ago.” The second man refused to answer the reporter.
Then, the men decided to call the police on the NYC homeowner. She said, “They’ve called the police on me and I’ve called the locksmith. We didn’t come in illegally, the door was open.” Upon police arrival, officers began questioning the men and the neighbors and asking for documentation.
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After failing to show the officers documents showing they had been living in the home for more than 30 days, the two men were both escorted off of the property and Andaloro continued with having a locksmith change the locks. But before police left the scene, they warned her that if she changed the locks she could end up in jail. In New York State, it’s against the law to cut off the utilities, change the locks, and remove the belongings of someone claiming to be a tenant.
She said, “I may end up in handcuffs today if a man shows up here and says I have illegally evicted him. Let him take me to court as I’ve been told to take him to court’ because today I’m not leaving my house.” Less than 10 minutes after officers left, the NYC homeowner had the locks changed on the squatters, and the man claiming to be the lessee arrived at the home with another man police escorted off the property earlier.
The men busted through the front door, and police were called back to the home where they told the NYC homeowner that the man could not be kicked out and that they would have to go to court. They deemed the incident a landlord-tenant issue and by law, the situation must now be handled through housing court — which is a lengthy process, on average 20 months. Before police left, they arrested the NYC homeowner, claiming she committed an unlawful eviction by changing the locks on the squatters inside of her $1 million home.
Additionally, Eyewitness News reports that they asked Brian Rodriguez, the man claiming he was the lessee, to provide a lease and he did not. However, he claimed that he had work done on the home and showed the bills for doing so. Additionally, Rodriguez claimed that he had moved into the home a few months ago and signed documents with a realtor, whom he refused to identify. Rodriguez further asserted that if Andaloro wants him gone she will have to take him to court or pay back the money he invested into the home.
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