Living somewhere for free while driving a Porsche doesn’t exactly seem to make sense. A couple were evicted from a Long Island home after it was discovered they had been squatting in a house that was abandoned for two years.
Denton Gayle and Margaret Grover, along with their toddler son and a dog named Daisy, were evicted from a Nassau County home on April 12, 2024. The pair was arrested back in October 2023 after someone had called the police because they were concerned for the child since they were all living in poor living conditions.
The two-story home had been in foreclosure for a decade and abandoned for two years. A Town of North Hempstead building inspector said the house, which had no heat, electricity, hot water or working bathrooms, was “unlivable.”
Despite the horrid conditions, the couple went to Nassau Housing Court to claim they signed a lease for the home with the owner, Edward Iacono, in a rent-to-own agreement in July 2023. Despite Iacono having died in 2016 and his son in 2018, Judge Christopher Coschignano ordered the couple be allowed to stay at the home.
The final straw came from neighbours who went to court, submitting death certificates to Coschignano and asking for an eviction order. He agreed after Gayle and Grover failed to offer proof of their claims.
Sheriff’s deputies evicted the pair, changed the locks and removed their belongings, including a Porsche and a big-screen TV. The case isn’t over just yet as the duo’s lawyer stated that they aren’t squatters. The 29 and 19-year-old believed they signed a valid lease in July 2023 with a man they thought was the owner.