With several tricks, a man manages to stay for free in a hotel for 5 years. But he becomes greedier and demands more and more. Then he loses an important lawsuit against the hotel owner.
The whole action begins in June 2018, when Mickey Barreto paid for one night in a hotel in New York for $200.57 (about 187 euros). To live permanently and for free in the hotel, he creatively exploited a law that was officially devised by the city of New York for low-income tenants.
How did the trick work? His stay was based on the New York Rent Stabilization Law, which allowed some guests in older New York hotels to apply for a permanent lease. Through this legislation, which was originally intended to protect low-income tenants, Barreto gained the right to reside in the hotel.
He sued the hotel and fought in court for his claim to the room and won in the absence of the hotel representatives. He argued in court that since he was subject to the New York Rent Stabilization Law, he was entitled to stay indefinitely.
The court decided that the hotel had to give him back the room, and he also managed to live there for free.
We present another curious story from the tech sector in the video:
The hotel room is no longer enough; he wants to claim the entire hotel
What happened next? The man became greedy. After the ruling that granted him the room, he decided to interpret the order as a property right to the entire building. Based on an ambiguous interpretation of the court’s ruling and the law, he went to the city’s finance office to have the entire hotel registered in his name. After seven attempts and exploiting bureaucratic mishaps, he managed to have his name appear as the owner of the building in the city records. This was reported by the English newspaper Los Angeles Times.
With the deed of ownership, he then began to present himself as the rightful owner. He sent letters to the owner’s lawyers demanding up to $15 million in back payments and requested access to the hotel’s financial records. As if it all already belonged to him.
Court finds: Ownership claims are fraudulent
So it all ends: The hotel owner repeatedly sued the intruder. Eventually, the court ruled against Barreto and found that his property claims were fraudulent. It ordered his immediate eviction (via businessinsider.com).
In 2023, after several hearings, the man was finally arrested for his attempted illegal appropriation of the hotel on 24 counts, including 14 counts of fraud. He faced a trial that could put him in prison for a long time. Meanwhile, the judges, after a psychiatric evaluation, found that Barreto was unfit for trial due to his mental health and addiction issues. This was recently reported by the New York Times (behind paywall).
More on tech: More than 2,000 computers were sold for 100 euros on eBay. The devices were discovered rather by chance, as the storage space was on the verge of collapsing. Behind the devices lies Canadian tech history: A man hid 2,200 computers in a barn for 23 years, now he is selling the devices on eBay for 100 euros
