‘Squatter’ who took over $1 million home demands $18,000 to leave after owner was arrested while trying to remove him
Gerrard Kaonga
Featured Image Credit: ABC 7
The New York squatter story just took a bizarre turn as one of the people involved has demanded $18,000 to leave the property.
Earlier this month, Adel Andaloro found herself in a a frustrating and unbelievable situation.
She found herself in handcuffs and was being arrested for confronting squatters in her million dollar home in New York.
Adel Andaloro inherited her family's home in Flushing, Queens after her parents passed away.
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She was selling the home but noticed that the entire front door and locks had been changed.
When she attempted to confront the squatters, while being accompanied by ABC7, it turned into a standoff.
One of the people she was seen arguing with in the local media broadcast footage is Brian Rodriguez who has since given his side of the story.
His story ultimately concludes with him demanding nearly $20,000 to rectify a situation where he describes himself as the victim of an apparent scammer.
Speaking to the New York Post, the Range Rover-driving Rodriguez claimed all he was trying to do was start a side hustle and cash-in on the migrant crisis by subletting the home.
When Andaloro confronted the squatters in a video which has gone viral online, the squatters claimed they were legitimately subletting and paying rent to a person named ‘Jay’, a nickname for Rodriguez based on his somewhat likeness to Jason Statham.
Explaining his side of things to the Post, Rodriguez, said he was scammed into ‘renting’ the house with a fake realtor. He wrongly believed that by letting to migrants, the city would pay $1,000 a month.
So where does his $18,000 demand come from?
He said he spent around this much to fix up the home, doing electric work, re-painting and cleaning the house.
“I told her that I can’t just walk out; my money is there. I told her that she should let me figure it out or pay me my money. She was furious,” he said.
He also did state that if he gets this money from her he would give up the house immediately.
Without the money, it will take “one or two months to move them out [and then] I will just give it back because it is the right thing to do,” he added.
For allegedly being a victim of a con himself, he said: “I feel horrible for being conned. That money is everything I have. Of course I feel bad for Ms. Adele.”
UNILAD has contacted the New York Police Department for comment.