Standoff over NYC ‘squatter’ home: Family hires SECURITY guard previously used by Bill Gates for his daughter Jennifer’s wedding to watch over $2 million property where shameless caretaker who drives luxe BMW SUV is holed up

The family denied access to their own dream home in New York by a stubborn squatter has hired a celebrity security guard to watch over the $2 million mansion.

Susana and Joseph Landa, both 68, purchased the beautiful Little Neck estate, located about 18 miles from Manhattan, in October.

The couple planned to retire in the large three-bed, four-bath home next door to their son Alex, who has Down syndrome.

Unfortunately, alleged “squatter” Brett Flores claims he “deserves” to live in the property because he worked as a caretaker for the previous elderly owner, who is now dead.

DailyMail.com visited the Long Island mansion and discovered that a security guard had been hired by the Landas to watch over their property while Flores continues to live there.

The burly security guard declined to give his name but told DailyMail.com ‘I work for the owner of the house. These people are good people, it’s a shame what’s going on.

“There’s probably two people (in the house). It shouldn’t happen. Whoever made these rules (squatters’ rights) smokes a kind of crack.’

The security guard had previously worked for Bill Gates’ family and was deployed to his daughter Jennifer’s wedding.

When DailyMail.com almost visited the property on Thursday evening Every light in the house was on: the lights in the living room, the basement, the garage and the upstairs.

It turned out that a camera – not one of the new owners’ cameras – had been placed in an upstairs bedroom.

At 7:30 p.m. there was still no sign of the squatter, or of his BMW SUV with out-of-town license plates.

A man who knew the owner, who he gave as Bernie, did not want to reveal his name, told DailyMail.com that he didn’t know the story until he read about it.

He said, ‘Jesus Christ, I know that house.’

‘It is a beautiful house in a beautiful setting.’

‘It’s a shame: people don’t want to rent out their property because they are afraid of squatters. Talk to any landlord and you’ll hear the same thing.

‘This is no secret. This is the system – and it’s been going on since Covid – it really created an opening where they don’t have to pay rent.

“It’s a bad situation and a big fear for every landlord.”

He added: “I’m glad I’m not a landlord

Earlier on Thursday, Fnarrations, but instead stayed indoors, where we saw furniture covered in dust sheets, with trash scattered across the floor.

Ten surveillance cameras monitor the building, but it is unclear who placed them there.

Outside, the garden is unkempt, with a broken doorbell and a sign warning of an ‘alarm system’ that greets guests at the front door.

A note Flores allegedly left on the door of the home told the new owners that they “do not have my permission to enter” and said their attempts to contact him “would be interpreted as harassment.”

Even as a winter storm raged through New York on Thursday, many of the windows and doors of the vacant building were left wide open, as it looked like the house hadn’t been lived in for a while.

Scattered, unfinished white paint was also left on the home’s red front door, next to a key lock holder that was ripped off its hinges.

There was no answer when DailyMail.com knocked on the door. Flores’ lawyer told DailyMail.com he had no comment ahead of an April 18 hearing. It is unclear what that hearing will entail.

No locals had anything to say about Flores, with one neighbor, whose property borders the garden of the disputed house, saying he had never seen him.

Property records show the previous owner was Bernard Fernandez, a watchmaker who “kept to himself” and was known to neighbors as “Bernie.”

When the Landas chose the house to retire in October, its location next to relatives and in a neighborhood where they had lived for decades made it the ideal place to settle down for good.

The Landas are taking Flores to court between landlord and tenant to try to have him evicted, but the court hearing isn’t until April.

“Long story short, he’s still there,” Susana said.

Flores was hired as a caretaker by the home’s previous owner, which he said gives him every right to remain on the property.

Court documents show that Flores, 32, was indeed hired by the former homeowner and was paid $3,000 a week to care for the elderly man.

The former homeowner passed away in January 2023, but Flores claimed he had a “permit” to stay in the home granted by the old owner.

When DailyMail.com asked neighbors about the former homeowner, they didn’t know much about the man and said he “kept to himself.”

After describing in court documents why he “deserved” to live for free in the multimillion-dollar property, Susana responded: “We couldn’t believe it, we couldn’t believe it.”

Flores’ lawyer told DailyMail.com: “no comment.”

The homeowners, along with an insurance inspector, tried to enter the property and Flores called the police.

The family has already had five hearings in the civil court and complains that the trial continues to be postponed.

Flores appeared in court without a lawyer and filed for bankruptcy on January 9, 2024, preventing any legal proceedings from continuing.

While Flores lives rent-free in the family’s dream home, they pay all the bills to keep the house running.

Flores has racked up thousands of dollars in utilities, which Joseph and Susana have had to pay.

Susana said Flores “left the windows open 24 hours a day” while they paid the heating bills.

“It’s very strange, our system is broken,” Susana said. “I could never imagine that we have no rights, no rights at all, nothing, zero.”

“I feel completely forgotten in this justice system, unfair and unable to do anything,” Joseph said.