A Brooklyn landlord says he has been left in a near decade-long legal battle that has drained hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid rent and legal costs.New York courts continue to delay a final resolution in a case involving a disputed tenancy.Thomas Diana owns an eight-unit building in Park Slope and he told Fox News that he has spent nine years trying to remove a woman who originally moved into one of his apartments in 2014 as a live-in companion for an elderly, disabled tenant. The tenant later died in 2016, triggering a long-running dispute over her legal right to remain in the property and whether rent should have been paid. The woman entered the home after responding to a Craigslist ad seeking a live-in companion. What began as an informal living arrangement eventually turned into prolonged litigation over rent obligations, tenancy status and rent-stabilisation protections.Diana said the case has dragged through multiple courts and proceedings, with repeated delays preventing closure.“This has gone on for nine years. Nothing about this is justice,” Diana told Fox News.He added: “Every time the case gets close to resolution, there’s another delay, another lawyer change, another new story.” He claims the tenant has changed legal representation at least eight times during the proceedings, which he has described as a “9-year squatter situation.”Attorneys for the tenant reject that characterisation. Casey Gilfoil, of Brooklyn Legal Services, said the landlord is misrepresenting the situation.“Mr. Diana’s distortion of the facts in this case is a sad attempt to harass our client out of her rent-stabilized apartment, and he will not be successful,” she told Fox News.Gilfoil said a judge has already found that Diana improperly removed the apartment from rent-stabilisation rules. She said the remaining issue before the court relates to calculating legal rent and possible damages. The tenant, she said, also has funds held in escrow pending the outcome of the case.Diana disputes that claim, arguing the court did not find fraud and that he acted on guidance he says he received from the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal.“The judge ruled there was no fraud,” Diana told Fox News.He added: “She said I incorrectly destabilized the apartment. I did it as they told me to.”He also denies that the tenant has accumulated substantial rent savings, saying her income history makes it unlikely she has set aside “anywhere near” the sums being suggested.At various points, court stipulations required the occupant to pay around $835 per month in use and occupancy fees, but Diana says those payments stopped years ago. He estimates total losses between $275,000 and $325,000, including unpaid rent and legal costs.Court filings and testimony referenced in the dispute also show conflicting arguments over whether the apartment should remain under rent-stabilisation protections and whether the tenant has legal standing to remain in the unit.Diana says theprocess has strained his finances, including his ability to support his children’s education and maintain the building.“One apartment out of eight not paying rent wipes out any profit,” he said.He argues the system is failing small landlords, pointing to repeated inspections and housing court delays that he says have compounded costs and stalled resolution.“They tell you to sell your building. They tell you to accept a buyout, to pay the person who owes you hundreds of thousands of dollars,” he said. “That’s not justice. That’s legalized theft.”
