Brooklyn Landlord Says 9-Year Eviction Fight Cost Him Up to $325,000 as Case Is Delayed Again
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Jun 1
Brooklyn Landlord Says 9-Year Eviction Fight Cost Him Up to $325,000 as Case Is Delayed Again
1 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jun 1
April's adjournment pushed Tom Diana's Brooklyn housing case into a 10th year, leaving the owner of an eight-unit Park Slope building still unable to regain the apartment or collect direct rent.
The dispute began after a woman who moved in as a live-in companion in 2014 remained after the elderly tenant died in 2016, triggering years of litigation over tenancy status, rent obligations and rent-stabilization rules.
Diana says interim use-and-occupancy payments of about $835 a month stopped years ago and estimates unpaid rent and legal costs at $275,000 to $325,000, which he says drained his daughter's college fund and strained building finances.
Brooklyn Legal Services rejects Diana's 'squatter' description, says a judge already found the apartment was improperly removed from rent stabilization, and says the tenant has money in escrow while the court determines legal rent and possible damages.
The case has become Diana's example of what he calls a broader imbalance in New York housing court, where repeated delays, lawyer changes and inspections can keep small landlords tied up for years.
How does a single tenant dispute spiral into a decade-long, $325,000 legal nightmare?
When a landlord claims financial ruin, are New York's robust tenant protections creating a new housing crisis?