Tenant Hijacks Landlord’s Home in NYC (A Legal Crime)

Alright, so here out in Queens
We’re going to meet a woman named Nadine
How are you doing?
Hi, how are you?
Doing well
I really have no idea what I’m getting into
So do we
That’s what makes it fun
So, do I
Hi, Peter, how are you?
Nadine
Nice to meet you
Nice to meet you, thank you
Thanks for meeting up
What’s the story? What’s going on here?
We’re recently talking about the moratorium
and how it impacted
minority of small landlords
Okay
So, we have here a small landlord
and he’s actually also my dad
Ohh, there we go, there we go
I learned a lot about real estate from my dad
He’s been in real estate for over…
as long as I can… I was alive
Okay
You know, unfortunately small landlords are impacted
negatively
And it’s unfortunate because this was created
so that everyone can benefit
whether it be a landlord or
it be a tenant who fell on hard times
Yup
But you have tenants
who wanted to exploit the system
in New York
I don’t know if you’re familiar with landlord-tenant
Well, I’ve been learning today
This is something I was completely unfamiliar with
Right
But I’m learning as I go
In this neighborhood you have
Jackie Robinson whose house is right over here
Ella Fitzgerald
This is Jackie Robinson?
Yes
Okay
Former home I should say
Ella Fitzgerald, Lena Horne
Babe Ruth, Fats Waller, Count Basie
Brook Benton, W.E.B. Du Bois
All in this neighborhood?
All in this neighborhood
And this neighborhood is called Addisleigh Park
It’s a nice neighborhood
In Queens
How are you doing?
Hi, how are you?
You’re a landlord too?
Yes, sir
How are things going for you currently?
It’s a going concern, you know
It’s a work in progress, you know?
Come on over
What’s your name?
Oh, my name is Robert
Robert
My husband
Nice to meet you
Oh, it’s your husband
Oh, okay, okay
Nice to meet you, it’s a pleasure
So, tell us uh…
well, you have the same story then
or a similar story, right?
Well, that’s with his property, not my property
I guess that the point of this video
there’s a situation going on in New York
where, you know
there’s a moratorium happening
It keeps getting pushed
The final day keeps getting pushed
now it’s august 31st
and
what’s getting overlooked is the smaller landlords
that aren’t getting any help
because you guys from my understanding
have to pay your mortgages
you have to pay tax to the government
and
the tenant
depending on their circumstance
some are telling the truth, right?
And some aren’t
Do you have any tenants that have
sort of camped out in your place
without paying rent or…?
Actually, he does
This is one
He’s kinda being modest about it but…
So unfortunately, you can’t distinguish and tell
who…
who’s working, who’s not
some people are working from home
So, just because they are home
that doesn’t mean that
they don’t have an income coming in
and
landlords, particularly small landlords
they still need to pay their bills
and tenants are utilizing this moratorium
many people
not just, you know
more than… I can’t give you percentage-wise
but many people are using this moratorium
as a way to save
To be fair
and I don’t know what you guys know
but to be fair
some people are struggling
their work has stopped
by no fault of their own
Absolutely
And they need the help, right?
Absolutely, absolutely
But this video is more about
what you’re talking about
which is…
There are people you can’t tell
if they’re working or not
and let me ask you this
with the government, are they asking for much proof
or how do they know if someone’s working or not?
That’s what it is
There’s no…
There are no processes in place to say
to distinguish who’s
working and who’s not working
and who has an income, who doesn’t
So, even though someone’s now working
people still received unemployment
they received PPP, EIDL
Right
And did not pay rent
So, yes, some landlords got an opportunity to
like a mortgage forbearance
but that’s gonna go on
the back-end of their mortgage
It’s not like it just goes away
So, what… What I can understand
is I understand that
look, people are always gonna abuse the system
that’s just the nature of humans unfortunately
but what I can’t understand is how
the banks don’t have to be left out to dry
Cus you still have to pay your mortgages
Yeah
You still have to pay your mortgages…
The government who’s creating these policies
still gets their tax revenue
That’s right
You stop paying your tax revenue
you lose your home, right?
Exactly
So…
And pay late fee and penalty on top of that
In addition
Okay, so what do you guys have to say…
What what do you wanna say?
What do you wanna tell the government
or whoever’s creating these policies
What do you wanna say?
Look out to a small landlords
because we as a small landlord
we are suffering from this situation
Cus they’re really looking out for the tenants
What about the small landlords?
Yeah
I think the overall mentality might be
“Oh, you have properties, you’re rich”
And uh…
I’m not saying that…
No, no, no, I’m just replying to the government
At the same talking, we have bills to pay
Yeah
How a landlord would survive in a situation like this
where a tenant refuses to pay?
I’m using the word that strong
“You’ve refused to pay”
Cus you may have some tenants that
willing to pay
But because of the law says it to them that
“We don’t have to pay right now”
But… What about us?
Yeah, it creates an unnecessary burden, you know?
What about us?
That’s why we’re all turning grey
That’s why we’re all turning grey
Like my dad said
The government doesn’t care about…
because they think of all landlords equally
Yeah
And all landlords are not equal
You have landlords who own
huge high-rise commercial spaces
and even though this pandemic is occurring
they still
can survive
Whereas…
There are like big institutional investors involved
Right
They have more of a buffer
Exactly
Yeah
And they know how to…
Uh, I don’t use that word but…
they know how to maneuver
Maneuver the system
Yes
I was gonna use another word but maneuver
Whereas, again, the small landlords…
Housing court in New York City is
the worst
The court system in New York City
is always going to
be in favor of the tenant
Okay
Because they don’t want
tenants
to become homeless
because we have a huge homeless population
Right
And that is creating more homelessness
And they would…
They would rather see a small landlord…
And I’m gonna say it
lose their home
Than to put a family into the shelter system
It makes them look bad if
there are more people in the streets
In the streets and in the system
because it’s more…
it cost more for the city to house a family
Instead of addressing the real problem
they just want to put a band-aid on it
Exactly
Which hurts people like you, guys
Exactly, exactly
What this moratorium did was
reveal what
many people already knew
Oh, interesting
So, I felt that with COVID
I think most people did
COVID put a spotlight on whatever was there
Like a 10x factor
Exactly
So it was already there
Exactly
Okay, okay
But it’s just 10 times worse
Exactly
We’re going to see a situation?
We’re going to see a situation?
Like get into a home…
Just to get an idea
Okay, okay
Not the tenant per se but
just the way…
You could tell the mentality of what they do
Yeah
Okay
And how, you know…
It’s a mentality?
More than anything, right?
Yes, that’s what it is
Entitlement mentality, right?
That’s a big word
That entitlement, yes
Yeah, okay
Yes, yes, yes, that’s a big one
So…
Sorry, go ahead
No, no, no. That’s usually what…
why people act the way they do
with this entitlement
And that
that mentality is getting incentivized right now
so then it only makes more of that mentality, right?
So, where are we going?
We are going to
see a house that…
Teenagers are easy, right?
Oh my gosh
Take care
You okay with being in a vlog?
Yeah
Alright
Okay, so we’re going to
to see a house
how tenant destroyed the property
So we’re going in a carnage?
Yes
Are you coming?
Yes
Okay
She’s holding the home hostage
We gave her notice that she has to
vacate the premises within 30 days
But the lease was up?
The lease has been up
Okay
The lease has been up for over a year
What was the last time she paid?
It was a months and months
She hasn’t paid since 2019
Ooh
Quite a nice neighborhood over here in Queens
Beautiful pockets of well-kept homes
parks
cool small mom-and-pop businesses
So, you’re selling this one?
A, yes
You gotta do a little work first, a little work
Yes, yes, yes
You got me excited
Not for what you have to deal with
Right
To see what carnage is
Right
Someone in there?
No…
Maybe she moved the table to block the door
to limit the access
Is electricity on?
Yes
Uh, Jesus
Ooh, there’s a nice stench in here
I’m scared to see what’s gonna pop up…
What the hell is that?
This is unbelievable
I wish you saw where the place was prior to this
How long were they here?
2 years
This is definitely a mouth-breathing environment
Jeez, you gotta deal with this disaster
Here’s a check down here
$1,400 but it says, “This is not a check”
And she was complaining about rodents
We’re like, there was never any rodents in here
I think she brought them in
That’s probably what may happened
There’s rodents. Well…
Go figure
You got trash on the floor, what do you expect?
Just in case you need this message
to get you through
Absolutely
So, they didn’t pay rent for how long?
They didn’t pay rent for over…
15 months
15-16 months
So, there’s nothing you guys can do?
Unfortunately
This is basically, you know
What I have to deal with
And obviously, the pandemic and the moratorium
gave her even a bigger permission to just
not worrying about paying
Not worrying about paying
still holding the place hostage
It is what it is, unfortunately
I feel like something’s gonna bite me
Same here, I’m just creeped out
What happened here?
I mean, how…
Was this a by design or she actually lived like this?
But however
notice
that she has luxury and designer items
She has an iPad right here
So why’d she just leave it?
No idea
Who knows…
It’s that mentality, you know?
This is the entitlement situation
that we discussed previously and
I’d rather buy luxury brands
as opposed to paying my rent
Save your money and eventually maybe even
maybe even get your own place, but not
This is the lifestyle, you know
I mean, the government, you know
make at least an attempt to try to like
remedy the situation but
evidently, you know
there’s no help from that end, so
this is the end result
Louis Vuitton
some Uggs
Yeah
What’ve we got?
Burberry over here
Balenciaga
I don’t even know that brand
is that a good one?
Yeah, it is a good brand
It’s a good brand
How much you think those are?
Oh gosh…
I don’t know, it could be about $800
Yeah
Come on!
No, seriously
She left $800…?
Yeah
Those aren’t $800
They could very well be $800
Balenciagas
Yeah, just go to Neiman Marcus, you’ll find them there
Uggs
Uggs are about $300
Man…
So, what’s the…
I don’t wanna be the guy
cus you’re dealing with this cr*p right now
but what’s the lesson here?
You really can’t…
Cus you don’t wanna stereotype but
I mean…
Vet better renters?
Yeah
better vetting at the end of the day and
Just pray for the best, hope for the best
The thing about vetting is that
people come in like kittens
and they leave like lions, so…
She was working
she had a job, she did have a…
Look, like a Moncler jacket
She was working, had a job
High-end goods
Yeah
She can’t pay you rent but it is what it is
She had a job
she was working
she had her children, single parent
looked like she was working really hard
to establish herself and
you give people a chance
and they screw you over
Yeah…
It’s unfortunate, but it’s the reality, you know
So, in a perfect world, the government should be
sticking up for you guys here
I mean…
That’s one way to look at it but I mean
it’s just… it’s it’s a sense of fairness, you know
Just be fair at the end of the day
Yeah
Because you just give so much attitude to the tenant
And then, you know, us here as landlords….
It’s not like I’m, you know, the average
big guy on Wall Street or Main Street
You’re not buying those shoes, right?
I wish I could
I mean, those are nice Nikes, but they’re not the uh…
What were those called, the Balanchias?
Balenciagas
Yeah, you know?
It’s like, come on now
I’m just trying to make
ends meet at the end of the day
so you really don’t worry about things like that
Alright, guys
Well, that’s a little uh… example
I’ve never seen anything like this to be honest
I’ve seen some trash places but this is the next level
It’s so creepy
Ooh
Oh, you didn’t see this, Jeez
The closet
Alright
An example
Alright, guys. Thank you
Thank you for bringing us…
Thank you for bringing us in
It’s a world we’re not gonna get into
unless there are people like you
willing to open up doors
so thank you so much
My pleasure, my pleasure
And you have a podcast
a very good podcast
I do, yes, thank you
I’m going to drop that below in the link
The name of it?
“Secrets Of The Sell”
“Secrets Of The Sell”
Yes
Nadine, and obviously her father
and you also
real estate mavericks, so
you have the insight
Trying to navigate
Trying to navigate
You saw the dark side of it too
Yes
The smelly side
I’ve learned from it, you know
Thank you
Thank you so much
Bro, good to see you, man
Good to see you too
How’s your mom?
Yeah, she’s good, man
She good?
Can’t complain
Alright
Good to see you
Take care
Yeah, take care, man
Thank you
Thank you
Alright guys
I just want to finalize on the fact that…
Look, I understand this video is
very much landlord focused
and I showed their journeys
And there are great landlords
there are terrible landlords
there are slumlords
There’re great tenants, there’re terrible tenants
I showed one side of the equation
but I really feel like this is the side
that doesn’t get shown so much
Most people… not most
but I think many people think
you know, landlords
are just rolling in the money
and they, you know, kick back in life
Yeah, there are those people
there are plenty of them, but there are also
good, hardworking people
that have made a lot of sacrifice
that have saved up money
that have done everything right
that are getting penalized right now
by the system
So
It was an honor for me to get into their lives
and for them to show me what exactly is going on
at the current moment here in New York City
Thanks for coming along
Until the next one