A guy from New York City took advantage of a little-known local housing rule to live rent-free in a famous Manhattan hotel for five years. Prosecutors, however, claimed last week that Mickey Barreto overreached himself when he attempted to charge a different renter for the New Yorker Hotel and filed documents asserting ownership of the whole building.
He was taken into custody on Wednesday and accused of submitting fraudulent property documents, according to the AP. However, Barreto, 48, claims that when police arrived at his boyfriend's flat, he was taken aback. He believes that rather than being a criminal case, it should be a civil one. "Until I saw the female police, I believed you were planning something for Valentine's Day to spice up the relationship," Barreto remembered telling his lover.
The most recent development in the protracted court drama that started when Barreto and his lover paid around $200 to rent one of the more than 1,000 rooms in the imposing Art Deco building constructed in 1930 is his indictment on fraud and criminal contempt charges.
Barreto claims that shortly after moving to New York, his partner informed him about a legal loophole that permits tenants in single-room apartments in buildings built before to 1969 to request a six-month lease. Barreto said that he qualified as a renter because he had paid for a night's stay at the motel. The hotel quickly ejected him when he requested a lease. The following day, he claims, he appeared in court.
He claims he won the appeal even though the court rejected his plea. The building's owners' attorneys failed to appear at a critical juncture in the lawsuit, giving him the victory by default.
Baretto claims that since the building's owners were unwilling to work out a lease with him but were unable to evict him, he resided there until July 2023 without paying any rent.
He did not stop there, according to Manhattan prosecutors: in 2019, he submitted a forged document to a municipal website, allegedly transferring title of the whole structure from the 1976 purchase of the property by the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity to himself. The late Rev. Sun Myung Moon started the church in South Korea.
Barreto then attempted to claim ownership of the building by charging other corporations. "I had no intention of defrauding anybody. Barreto asserts, "I do not think I ever committed any fraud." "And out of this, I never earned a single dime."
He was taken into custody on Wednesday and accused of submitting fraudulent property documents, according to the AP. However, Barreto, 48, claims that when police arrived at his boyfriend's flat, he was taken aback. He believes that rather than being a criminal case, it should be a civil one. "Until I saw the female police, I believed you were planning something for Valentine's Day to spice up the relationship," Barreto remembered telling his lover.
The most recent development in the protracted court drama that started when Barreto and his lover paid around $200 to rent one of the more than 1,000 rooms in the imposing Art Deco building constructed in 1930 is his indictment on fraud and criminal contempt charges.
Barreto claims that shortly after moving to New York, his partner informed him about a legal loophole that permits tenants in single-room apartments in buildings built before to 1969 to request a six-month lease. Barreto said that he qualified as a renter because he had paid for a night's stay at the motel. The hotel quickly ejected him when he requested a lease. The following day, he claims, he appeared in court.
He claims he won the appeal even though the court rejected his plea. The building's owners' attorneys failed to appear at a critical juncture in the lawsuit, giving him the victory by default.
Baretto claims that since the building's owners were unwilling to work out a lease with him but were unable to evict him, he resided there until July 2023 without paying any rent.
He did not stop there, according to Manhattan prosecutors: in 2019, he submitted a forged document to a municipal website, allegedly transferring title of the whole structure from the 1976 purchase of the property by the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity to himself. The late Rev. Sun Myung Moon started the church in South Korea.
Barreto then attempted to claim ownership of the building by charging other corporations. "I had no intention of defrauding anybody. Barreto asserts, "I do not think I ever committed any fraud." "And out of this, I never earned a single dime."
