Shameless Range-Rover driving squatter is demanding a RANSOM to leave home of Long Island woman who was arrested for daring to confront the people in her house
A man at the center of the Queens housing debacle claims he is the victim of a fraudulent business deal and will leave the property if he is paid for “upgrades” he made to the home.
Brian “Jay” Rodriguez told the New York Post that he was looking for $18,000 to return the house to its rightful owner — Adele Andaloro — after his attempt to start a “side business” went up in flames.
The housing saga that has captured tabloid attention across the five boroughs began when Andaloro was dramatically handcuffed and stripped of the $1 million property she inherited from her parents.
A handful of alleged squatters in the four-bedroom house then claimed they were legitimate residents of the property and had paid rent to someone called ‘Jay’.
Jay turned out to be Brian Rodriguez, who drives a Range Rover and just became the owner of a little Pomeranian named Larry.
Brian “Jay” Rodriguez offered to vacate the home along with his tenants if Andaloro would reimburse him for the work allegedly done on the home — an amount he said totals more than $18,000.
The story began making headlines when Andaloro entered her home several days ago, flanked by reporters, in an attempt to regain control of her property.
Rodriguez told the Post that he was scammed into “renting” the house with a bogus lease drawn up by a fraudulent real estate agent with whom he went into business in an attempt to make money from what he thought was a city program that pays landlords $1,000. per month to absorb illegal migrants.
But such a program does not exist.
Despite being defrauded, Rodriguez wants Andaloro to pay him the $18,000 he put into plumbing, electrical, painting and cleaning repairs to the house that he says he paid for.
“I told her I can’t just walk out; my money is there. I told her to let me figure it out or pay me my money. She was furious,” he told the newspaper.
He claims that if Andaloro pays him, he will surrender the house immediately, and even without the money he will “just give it back because it’s the right thing to do,” but it could take him four to eight weeks to get rid of all his tenants to get the property.
‘I feel terrible that I was scammed. That money is all I have. Of course I feel sorry for Ms. Adele,” he added.
‘Now I have to pay to make them leave. need a month or two to get them out. I am willing to give the house back to Mrs. Adele. I’ll take the L here. The house really beat me up.’
In his recounting of events, Rodriguez was defrauded by a well-dressed man at a Flushing laundromat whom he met last December and who promptly agreed to do business in a house he could rent and rent out rooms.
The man, “Ronnie Ferg,” claimed to be a real estate agent and offered Rodriguez a lease on the four-bedroom, two-bathroom, 1,600-square-foot house, to which Ferg had a key.
The property at the center of the dispute in Flushing, New York, is believed to be worth about $1 million
Andaloro was arrested for changing the locks, which is illegal under New York City’s eviction law. She has promised to take legal action in court
Kevin Balletsy, who claims to have a lease on the basement, says he won’t leave until he gets his deposit back
One man, who was believed to be in the home, walked past the building last week
Andaloro, whose parents left her the house, said she has no options other than the legal route
The lease was signed for an agreed price of $3,200 per month and Rodriguez then began renting out rooms in the house.
‘I rented out the rooms to local people who needed places to sleep. They work for Uber and Instacart and can’t afford $2,000 a month for an apartment. Some pay $900; some pay $1,000,” he said.
When things went wrong in the house, leaking shower heads and the like, Rodriguez said Ferg told him to “fix it himself because the owners are cheap.”
“He said he would make sure I got a discount on my rent and told me not to pay for February.”
He said he had pumped about $23,000 into the house and was surprised when his tenants in late February encountered a woman (Andaloro) who had come to the property, told them she was the owner and wanted everyone out.
Rodriguez then called Ferg: “He told me she’s probably a former tenant who wants to get back into the house. He told me to call the police.”
When the now infamous meeting between Andaloro, the tenants and the police took place, Rodriguez called Ferg again, who said; “I told you what to do,” before his line finally went dead.
Rodriguez says he tried to stop authorities from cuffing Andaloro. ‘Mrs. Adele could attest to this,” he said.
Currently, things between Andaloro, Rodriguez and Ferg (who is nowhere to be seen) have reached an impasse.
Rodriguez and his unlawful tenants are not paying rent, but will remain on the property for the time being as Andaloro continues to try to regain control of her home.
Andaloro has promised to take Rodriguez to court.