Lawsuit: Woman accused of squatting demands $25,000 from homeowners to move out

A woman accused of squatting is demanding that two New York City homeowners pay $25,000 to vacate their property as squatting increases across the country.

In recent years, homeowners have increasingly complained about squatters, people living in their homes without permission. While some squatters are homeless and occupy a temporarily vacant property while the homeowner is away, many others are tenants who are overstaying their stay because they refuse to pay rent.

In New York City's Upper West Side, a couple is faced with a woman who is now demanding $25,000 to leave the property.

Nancy Hament and her husband Richard Scarola initially let Celeste Champoux live on their property after the couple's friend, film producer John Corso, said Champoux was moving to Hawaii and needed a temporary place to stay.

More than a year has passed, and Champoux still refuses to leave the house, according to a lawsuit the couple filed this week.

Champoux also said the couple would have to pay her $25,000 if she wanted to leave, the lawsuit says.

It is not the first time Champoux has found herself in the midst of eviction proceedings, but she claims that Hament and Scarola are committing “age abuse” by turning off electricity and water, Champoux’s lawyer told the ^ “New York Post: The New York Post”.

“You can't just cut off her basic services to force her to move,” attorney Stephen C. Dachtera told the publication.

The couple has also filed suit against the friend who originally introduced them to Champoux. They claim he committed fraud because he knew Champoux would continue to stay in the apartment without legal entitlement.

The lawsuit alleges that Corso “falsely claimed that Champoux planned to move to Hawaii and that her stay would be very brief.”

The couple said they agreed that Champoux could only stay for a short time.

“Champoux obtained her right to the lease to the property through fraud on the part of Corso, which caused plaintiff great and lasting harm,” the lawsuit states.

Corso was also named in the two previous eviction lawsuits against Champoux in connection with the alleged fraud and squatting.

Champoux was issued an eviction notice for nonpayment of rent in 2014, but she said she didn't pay the rent because the apartment hadn't been repaired. Corso said he would pay Champoux's rent once he got money for a new movie. For that property, Champoux paid less than $3,000 of the $60,000 she owed. She was evicted from the apartment in 2018 after living there for 46 years.

Champoux's next apartment, at the Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Airmen's Club in Midtown, also had problems with her as a tenant. She said she was allowed to live there for free in return for helping market the property.

But the club's lawyer said during a pre-trial hearing in 2020 that Corso and Champoux “committed a fraud” by pretending that Champoux had marketing skills.

“Our director fell for her story that according to her friend and this other gentleman she was a marketing expert,” Margaret Ann Harley, secretary of the club's board, said in court.

“And she was not a marketing expert at all. She … didn't do any work, and then we asked her to leave, but she didn't want to go.”

Champoux left the property three years later due to a COVID hardship declaration and moved into Hament and Scarola's property shortly thereafter.

Champoux's lawyer, Dachtera, said his client was old and had hearing problems.

“The landlord must not expose them to and participate in elder abuse,” Dachtera told the post.

Newsweek asked the parties for a statement by email on Wednesday.

Alan Chang, a national expert in property and trust law, urged property owners to have a professionally drafted written agreement for any type of short- or long-term stay.

“It’s always sad to see how people take advantage of other people on a regular basis,” said Chang Newsweek. “The absurd concept that people who break the law have additional rights makes no sense to me. More and more people in our society are sharing ideas and strategies to outsmart the system and enrich themselves unjustly.”

He added: “The small savings you will make by trying to draw up a lease based on a document you found on the internet are not worth it. Hire a professional.”