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Town agrees to foot moving bill after judge orders Porsche-driving LI squatters to hit the road
A pair of Porsche-driving Long Island squatters were accused of duping a judge so they could legally live in an abandoned home.
nypost.com
Town agrees to foot moving bill after judge orders Porsche-driving LI squatters to hit the road
By
Social Links for Kathianne Boniello
Published March 16, 2024, 8:52 a.m. ET
A pair of Porsche-driving Long Island squatters accused of duping a Nassau County judge so they could legally live in an abandoned home now face eviction after the jurist reversed his decision.
“This court orders that . . . Denton Gayle and Margaret Grover immediately vacate the property at 39 Brussel Drive, New Hyde Park,” wrote Nassau County District Court Judge Christopher Coschignano in his March 6 decision.
Gayle and Grover ran to Nassau County Housing Court in November, claiming to Coschignano in court papers that Edward Iacono rented them his home and then illegally kicked the couple out of the two-story, seven-room Cape Cod for no reason.
5 The Cape Cod-style home had been declared “unlivable” by the town. Kathianne Boniello
5 A judge ordered Denton Gayle, along with girlfriend Margaret Grover, to vacate the home. Kathianne Boniello
Edward Iacono died in 2016; his son by the same name, along with his wife and another son, all died by 2018, leaving the home abandoned and in a prolonged foreclosure proceeding, outraged neighbors later told the judge in their own court papers.
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Grover, 19, claimed during a Wednesday hearing she’d paid $20,000 to Iacono, but when she couldn’t provide Coschignano proof, the judge repeatedly told her, “That’s because Edward’s dead.”
The couple has appealed, claiming neither the neighbors nor the town has legal standing to get them evicted.
The Nassau County Sheriff’s Office said Friday it had yet to receive a warrant to evict the pair.
5 Margaret Grover apparently could not provide proof in court that she’d rented the home from its owner, who died in 2016.
The home has been in foreclosure since 2013, but the process has languished in state court for years. Wells Fargo transferred the mortgage to US Bank Trust in 2021.
Ultimately, the home stood empty for a decade before Gayle, 29, and Grover, appeared there in August with their 2013 Porsche Cayenne, and baby and dog in tow.
Now the Town of North Hempstead said it is giving the bank 90 days to finish the foreclosure — or they will take over the property under the state’s Zombie housing law.
5 The town has agreed to foot the bill for the commercial movers and 30 days of storage required before an eviction can proceed, at a cost of $2,500 or more, a spokesman said. Kathianne Boniello
5 Concerned neighbors phoned authorities about squalid conditions. Courtesy of Sidney Southerland
The Town of North Hempstead, which declared the Brussel Drive house unlivable in October after police were called to check on the couple’s baby, said it has no authority to force its way into the home to inspect it.
The town has agreed to foot the bill for the commercial movers and 30 days of storage required before an eviction can proceed, at a cost of $2,500 or more, a spokesman said.
“The permanent fix has to involve selling the property to a new owner so squatters don’t try to reoccupy the house in the future. The situation just speaks to the weakness in state laws governing these matters,” said town spokesman Umberto Mignardi.