NYC squatters are cashing in on legal loopholes and crowded courts to take over homes — and good luck getting them out: experts
NY Post
The Big Apple is seeing a troublesome trend of unwelcome squatters illegally bedding down in private homes and apartments in the five boroughs — and it’s gotten much harder to kick them out.
A backlog of housing court cases and changes in the law in recent years have made it a bigger and longer-lasting headache for landlords to boot unwelcome tenants, legal experts tell The Post.
“This is happening far more now than in the past,” real estate attorney Josh Price said. “Squatters have become far more sophisticated than before. They set up elaborate schemes, fake documents and investigate the homes before breaking in.”
Two changes in city law in 2019 now dictate that landlords can’t just boot a squatter without a “special proceeding,” and have to file a lawsuit to get them out.
Manhattan real estate lawyer Alan Goldberg said he’s seen a 10-to-20% bump in squatter cases over the past two years, attributing it to the migrant crisis, post-pandemic homelessness — and media coverage.
“The irony is the more publicity it gets the more people think about it,” Goldberg said.
