Homeowner Paula Rosado alleges that a prominent real estate agent has trashed her Hamptons home and won't pay rent.
Are some people abusing laws meant to protect people with financial troubles during the coronavirus pandemic? Some homeowners in the Hamptons, where summer homes can rent for $100,000 or more per month, certainly think so.
Several of them allege some wealthy New Yorkers are apparently taking advantage of the statewide ban on evictions and refusing to pay rent that is due.
"This has been a complete nightmare for us, for our family emotionally and financially," Paula Rosado told Inside Edition. She rented her three-bedroom Sag Harbor home to a man who she says now owes more than $15,000 in rent and utilities.
Rosado said the alleged squatters’ two German Shepherds have torn apart her house. "The dogs have ripped up the backyard," Rosado said. "The irrigation is ripped out of the yard and chewed."
And inside the house, she says, it's even worse. "All of our rugs and couches are eaten and urinated on," Rosado said. Pictures of damage show that the walls are damaged with holes and there are several broken windows.
The lease ended April 30 and Rosado says the alleged squatter, prominent real estate agent Jonathan Davis, refuses to move out.
"It's horrific. It really is just horrific," Rosado said. She said she's called police, but they tell her there's nothing they can do, because of Governor Andrew Cuomo's order that no one can be evicted for non-payment of rent during the pandemic.
Inside Edition producers attempted to speak with Davis, but he refused to comment and his lawyer asked them to leave.
The attorney also Davis wants to “do the right thing” and they are trying to negotiate a settlement.
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