Rockland Legislators Send Letter to Albany in Support of Efforts to Protect Homeowners Against Squatters

By M.C. Millman

Rockland County Legislators sent a strongly worded letter yesterday, Wednesday, Apri 3,  addressed to Governor Kathy Hochul expressing their strong support of revising laws against squatters to protect homeowners. 

The letter expressed support of  Assemblyman Jake Blumecranz's bill, A.6894/S.5979, in his quest to protect homeowners from trespassers who illegally take possession of a property and live there in defiance of the law. The bill was introduced after a series of incidents including one where a mother was found murdered and stuffed into a duffel bag at her New York City apartment after a pair of squatters beat her to death.

"The tragedy in New York City where squatters beat to death the owner of the property is the culmination of an unbelievably misguided advocacy," Rockland County Legislator Itamar Yeger shares exclusively with Rockland Daily.  "People who steal others' real property should be punished by the criminal justice system, not protected as heroes. The idea that someone can simply take over your real property if they're there for 30 days and be treated by the law like a tenant is both outrageous and, in this tragic case, deadly. I fully support this proposal to remove squatters from the definition of tenancy and return real property to those who actually own it."

“We cannot sit idly by and wait for people’s homes to be stolen out from under them,” Legislator Aron Wieder tells Rockland Daily. “The loopholes in the system need to be fixed before more families are devastated by illegal squatters commandeering their homes.”

The legislative letter follows fast on the heels of another letter sent to Albany on March 15 also addressed to the governor, requesting her support together with the Rockland County Legislature for including Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) in the proposed budget. The letter was signed by seventeen Rockland County Legislators.

"Our direct support professionals provide services to our most vulnerable residents, the disabled and the elderly," Legislator Yeger says. "It is well beyond time that they are paid wages appropriate to their jobs and that can also support them living in the state. Everyone knows how expensive it is to live in New York, and many areas are priced well out of reach of even middle-class and upper-middle-class New Yorkers. This has to change."