A man from New York easily solved the real estate crisis in the city using fraud, and the court won't be going after him.
In 2018, Mickey Barreto claimed ownership of the famous New Yorker Hotel and has been living there rent-free since then.
Barreto allegedly forged documents to show his ownership of the hotel and has to face fraud charges, but the Manhattan District Attorney's Office declared him mentally unfit to stand trial, per AP News.
Despite previous outpatient treatments, recent psych evaluations determined he could not fully understand the legal proceedings against him. In return, Judge Cori Weston gave Barreto until November 13 to secure psychiatric care.
Fraud Charges Against the Rent-Free New Yorker Hotel Resident
In the same report, Barreto stated that prosecutors are attempting to get him hospitalized instead due to a weak case. For him, the situation is somewhat beneficial since it means the media and the court won't view him as a criminal.
The New Yorker also denied any drug issues and called his substance use 'partying.'
On how he managed to live rent-free, prosecutors argued that Barreto manipulated legal loopholes to maintain his claim. He initially insisted that he gained tenant rights by paying $200 for a one-night stay and that the hotel's failure to send a lawyer allowed him to remain within the vicinity. That's when he decided rent was no longer payable.
He further claimed that the hotel's owner, the Unification Church, failed to negotiate a lease but also couldn't legally evict him.
Other statements obtained by The New York Times reported that he allegedly tried to collect rent from a tenant and demanded the hotel's bank transfer its accounts to him.
For now, the case will be moving toward court-mandated mental health care with experts seeing his potential hospitalization as the best path forward.
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