A hardworking immigrant family in New York City experiences a nightmare after unknowingly inviting a suspected squatter into their Manhattan home.
Now, more than a year later, they claim their unwanted tenant refuses to leave and is turning their apartment into a health hazard, as the house guest from hell litters the floors with rotting sanitary products and stinking piles of garbage.
Worse still, they claim their squatter is sleeping in their deceased grandmother’s bed, has stolen more than $50,000 worth of jewelry, and is responsible for taking an elderly aunt to the hospital.
But despite spending more than $30,000 in legal fees and calling police nearly 50 times, it appears there is nothing they can do, the family and their attorney said.
The Kermanshah family says in an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com that they have had enough.
“She’s taken so much from us,” said Donna Kermanshah, 24, whose father, Magid Kermanshah, is the legal owner of the apartment. “She’s ruining our lives.”
A hardworking immigrant family in New York City experiences a nightmare after unknowingly inviting a suspected squatter (pictured) into their Manhattan home
Despite spending more than $30,000 in legal fees and calling the police nearly 50 times, they have no choice but to wait for a New York City court to issue an eviction notice, which could take months.
Magid, 77, bought the two-bedroom apartment on Manhattan’s East Side in 1999 for $385,000 for his ailing mother. His sister, Donna’s aunt, later moved in to care for her.
Today, comparable units in the building sell for $1.3 million.
“My dad worked hard his whole life to provide for his mother,” Donna said. “He came to this country with nothing and struggled to provide for us.”
Their ordeal began in May 2023, when, according to Donna, her aunt received a Facebook message from someone named Daria (The Mail has changed her name), claiming to be a distant relative from Iran.
“She took so much from us,” said Donna Kermanshah, 24 (pictured), whose father Magid Kermanshah is the legal owner of the apartment. “She is destroying our lives.”
Daria, a woman in her late 40s, said she was visiting New York City to offer her condolences after the death of the family matriarch, who had passed away several months earlier.
The family now suspects that Daria saw the announcement of the grandmother’s death on Facebook and wanted to scam them.
Donna told the Mail that Daria begged for temporary accommodation shortly after arriving, claiming she had recently been evicted from her daughter’s home in Chicago.
But the days turned into weeks.
And Donna said her aunt was too embarrassed to tell her family that she had let Daria move in with her.
When the aunt finally told the truth, it was too late.
In New York City, squatters are granted rental rights after living in a property for 30 days.
And when Magid called New York City police in June 2023 to report Daria’s alleged illegal occupancy of the apartment, Daria had already been living there for more than a month.
That meant the police could not legally remove her by force. The family’s only way out was to file an eviction case in housing court.
The Kermanshahs claim the squatter slept in their deceased grandmother’s bed, stole more than $50,000 worth of jewelry and was responsible for sending an elderly aunt to the hospital. Donna Kermanshah is pictured above with her deceased grandmother
“My father worked hard his whole life to provide for his mother,” Donna said. “He came to this country with nothing and struggled to provide for us.” Pictured: Magid, who owns a carpet business in Lower Manhattan
What followed was a complicated legal battle that began in November 2023, when the Kermanshahs ordered Daria to leave the premises.
And as the case remained in housing court, Daria’s behavior became increasingly strange, the family alleged.
According to Donna, she stole $50,000 worth of jewelry from her grandmother, as well as a birth certificate and a special diary. She also had disgusting habits, such as leaving used sanitary towels on the floor in piles of trash.
Then, the Mail was told, things became more disturbing and even violent.
Donna claimed that Daria had barricaded herself in the apartment and was afraid to open the windows because she was afraid someone would climb through the windows at night and kill her, despite the apartment being over 30 stories high.
Daria often slept on a pile of blankets in the middle of the tiled kitchen floor, Donna said, and rinsed out paper cups before cutting them into small pieces, allegedly screaming, “I don’t want them to take my fingerprints.”
At that moment, my aunt was “totally scared,” Donna claimed.
‘[Daria] ‘She likes to tease my aunt,’ she told the Mail. ‘She followed her through the corridors, filmed her and harassed her. They got into a fight and my aunt fell and ended up in hospital.’
Because little information is available, Donna has made a meticulous effort to find out Daria’s background.
As far as she knows, Daria has no job, but she often claims that she was a “former spy in Iran for the pre-revolution government.”
The Mail also viewed video footage from inside the apartment, captured by a security system the Kermanshahs had installed to keep an eye on their elderly mother.
In one clip, Daria is heard railing against the “corrupt” US government, the “corrupt” NYPD and the Chicago branch of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which she holds responsible for the “enforced disappearance” of her daughter.
Other footage shows Daria pacing back and forth in the apartment, talking excitedly to herself.
In a clip of footage shot from inside the apartment, the squatter can be heard railing against the “corrupt” US government, the “corrupt” NYPD and the Chicago branch of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which she blames for her daughter’s “enforced disappearance.”
The burglar allegedly stole up to $50,000 worth of jewelry from the grandmother, a birth certificate and a special diary — and had disgusting habits, such as leaving used feminine hygiene products on the floor in piles of trash, Donna said.
To further complicate the legal process, Daria has taken the Kermanshahs to court, claiming that she was entitled to legal residence in the apartment because she was a family member.
According to Kermanshah’s lawyer, the case was dismissed.
The family’s lawyer also told the Mail that Daria had filed for a restraining order against Donna’s aunt, but that case was reportedly dismissed because Daria failed to appear in court.
On May 24, 2024, after months of delays, Kermanshah’s case was heard and now they are waiting for a decision from the judge.
In New York City, it can reportedly take six to eight months for an eviction case to be resolved. But in a justice system struggling with budget cuts and a large backlog of cases, it can take years for particularly difficult cases to be resolved.
While the Kermanshahs wait, Daria lives rent-free, and Magid must continue to pay the sky-high $2,000 monthly condo fee.
Daria also recently returned to family court to file for a second restraining order against the family aunt.
In order not to break the rules, the aunt moved out of the apartment and now lives with her son in Queens.