A brazen New York City squatter will be swapping a stolen home for a prison cell after he pleaded guilty.
Brian Rodriguez, 36, began occupying Adele Andaloro’s $1million home in Flushing, Queens, in February 2024 and refused to leave. He even went as far as calling the police on the homeowner when she changed the locks on the doors.
On Friday, the serial squatter was sentenced to two years in prison and five years of supervised release in a Queens court. He pleaded guilty in January to false reporting an incident, the District Attorney’s Office said.
‘At the end of the day, we’re making a message very clear – you don’t get to walk into a house you don’t own and say you have a right to stay and we’re going to make sure this has a deterrent effect as well, and it will,’ DA Melinda Katz said, according to ABC 7.
‘We are most proud that we got the house back for the homeowner.’
Andaloro noticed her home was being occupied when she showed up in February 2024 to find the locks and front door had been changed.
Rodriguez had also begun renting out the rooms to others, despite having no legal ownership of the home, prosecutors said.
The homeowner eventually was able to gain access to the house, where she changed the locks – a move that would lead her to get arrested after Rodriguez called the cops.
Brian Rodriguez, 36, was sentenced to two years in prison and five years of supervised release for falsely reporting that he lawfully lived in Adele Andaloro’s $1million home in Flushing, Queens
Andaloro noticed her home was being occupied when she showed up in February 2024 to find the locks and front door had been changed
Rodriguez said he had a lease through a real estate agent, which was false
Shocked, Andalaro confronted Rodriguez, shouting at him for ‘stealing her house’ which led to an explosive confrontation that at one point saw Rodriguez trying to break down the front door.
Rodriguez pushed through it while Andaloro and a crew of journalists were there. After a standoff, he called police and she was arrested for changing the locks.
It is illegal in New York for homeowners to change the locks or touch belongings or shut off utilities if someone claims they are rightfully inhabiting the space. And police can’t remove them as trespassers due to the legal matters happening in civil court, not criminal.
Rodriguez claimed he had a lease through a real estate agent and he provided them with fake paperwork from a brokerage firm that didn’t exist, according to prosecutors.
He claimed he is the victim of a fraudulent business deal and will leave the property if he is paid for ‘upgrades’ he made to the residence.
Rodriguez told the New York Post last year he was after an $18,000 to hand the house back to its rightful owner after his attempt to start a ‘side hustle’ went up in flames.
A handful of alleged squatters in the four-bedroom home then claimed they were legitimate residents of the property who had been paying rent to someone named ‘Jay.’
Jay turned out to be Brian Rodriguez, who drives a Range Rover.
The homeowner eventually was able to gain access to the house, where she changed the locks – a move that would lead her to get arrested after Rodriguez called the cops. Rodriguez busted in to the home and then called the cops on the homeowner
It is illegal in New York for homeowners to change the locks or touch belongings or shut off utilities if someone claims they are rightfully inhabiting the space. Her charges were later dropped, but the DA began looking to the squatter
Lawmakers voted to change the definition of tenant, which will hopefully allow people to be able to remove squatters as trespasses
Rodriguez told the Post that he was scammed into ‘renting’ the home with a fake lease drawn up by a fraudulent realtor with whom he went into business in an attempt to cash in on what he thought was a city-run program that pays landlords $1,000 a month to take in illegal migrants.
But no such program exists.
Andaloro’s charge was later dropped, but then the DA’s Office began looking into the squatter.
His unlawful inhabitation of the space lead to the state changing the definition of what a tenant is to exclude squatters, which has become a huge problem in the Big Apple.
Lawmakers voted to change the definition, which will hopefully allow people to be able to remove squatters as trespasses.
In New York State, squatters who occupy a property openly and adversely for 10 uninterrupted years can make an adverse possession claim, provided they have paid property taxes over that decade.
In New York City, however, squatters are granted rights after just 30 days, meaning landlords must start an eviction proceeding as soon as a squatter has been discovered.
