The $2-million home of Susana and Joseph Landa, both 68, in Douglaston, Queens has been occupied by a squatter ever since they legally purchased it in October 2023 – and the squatter is even renting out the house's rooms.
The Landas purchased the Douglaston home for $2 million, per a Zillow posting, due to its proximity to their sons who can help take care of their brother, Alex, who has Down syndrome, especially once the couple becomes too old to be the primary caretakers.
But these hopes were dashed when they found out that they could not enter their own home due to Brett Flores, 32, who previously worked on a $3,000-a-week salary as the caretaker of Bernand Fernandez, who passed away on Jan. 12, 2023, at the age of 80. (Related: Nationwide squatter epidemic turns homes into havens of illegality.)
Flores has repeatedly claimed that the previous owner gave him a "license" to live in the house despite the Landas' legal purchase of the property, although he failed to produce supporting evidence for his claim.
Worse yet, the Landas claim that Flores has been listing rooms in the home for rent. The Landas claim to have seen several different people in the home, including a couple and various other men and women, all of whom they said "don't belong there." An individual who lives nearby confirmed with Fox News that they had seen other people in the home.
The New York Post confirmed that it had seen Flores post short-term rental listings on several websites – all of which have since been deleted. Flores even allegedly advertised one of the rooms as the "Prince Room," priced at $50 per night.
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Brett Flores using legal loopholes to prevent his eviction
For the first few months that Flores was illegally living in the house, he claimed squatters' rights. But when the Landas began legal proceedings in an attempt to evict him, Flores filed for bankruptcy in a move that the family's lawyer argued was made to activate a stay of action and protect him from litigation while keeping the house safely out of the possession of the Landas.
"We're in the process of having the automatic bankruptcy stay lifted so that we can go back to court and proceed with a trial," said Anthony Mordente, the Landa family's lawyer. "I think we'll be successful. I don't see any reason why the bankruptcy judge would keep the stay in effect."
"[The house] is not part of his bankruptcy estate because he doesn't have a ten-year lease that would give him time to stay here, so without a lease and without an agreement to stay, the bankruptcy judge is going to say: What is this all about?" Mordente added.
The Landas have already been through five hearings in civil court since they purchased their home, but Flores' strategic use of legal loopholes keeps the process from getting resolved quickly. The next hearing in landlord-tenant court is not until April.
"It makes me feel completely forgotten in this legal system, unfair, and not able to do anything," said Joseph.
Read more stories of squatters taking over private property at HomelessAgenda.com.
Watch this video from "The Sons of Liberty" discussing how more and more illegal immigrants have resorted to squatting in the United States.
This video is from the Sons of Liberty channel on Brighteon.com.
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