For 5 years, he sleeps in a luxury hotel without paying a single night
June 2018. Mickey Barreto walks through the doors of the New Yorker Hotel in New York. He books a night for 200 dollars and 57 cents, and never leaves room 2565, where he settles in with his partner, until 2023. He doesn't pay for a single night.
Publisher Korii refers to the daily newspaper The New York Times, which reveals the story behind the scenes. Mickey Barreto, “a follower of conspiracy theories had simply taken advantage of a legal loophole opened up by an ancient New York law relating to rentals”. What does this famous law say? A hotel guest is authorized to become a permanent resident by requesting a lease at a reduced rate. The room then becomes, broadly speaking, “a subsidized rental apartment in a hotel.”
The day after he moved in, the man expressed his wish to obtain a six-month lease at the reception; a request that was not accepted by the hotel management. Seeing that Mickey and his partner were not leaving their room, the steward took charge of evacuating their belongings. As a result, “Mickey Barreto filed a complaint against the hotel with the New York City Housing Court,” reports Korii. In a three-page handwritten affidavit, he cites “state law, local codes, and a prior court case to argue that his application for a lease made him a ‘permanent resident of the hotel.’” He claims that the removal of his belongings by hotel staff constituted an unlawful eviction. Surprisingly, the judge ruled in his favor.
After he was reinstated, Mickey Barreto reviewed the judgment and found that it made no mention of a lease, rent, or term limit. It even gave the guest a “final judgment of possession.” Convinced that he had become the owner of the room, Mickey “attempted to obtain a judgment from the New York City Department of Finance.” After many attempts, he was deemed the owner of the entire hotel (the property was "indivisible”). “The New York Department of Finance, which handles a huge number of cases every day, had not been vigilant enough. Mickey Barreto immediately demanded $15 million (around €13.9 million) from the New Yorker's profits and demanded that the 38th floor be emptied of its clients so that he could inspect the building with his architect and start work.” Redirecting all the hotel's mail to his room, putting all the establishment's bank accounts in his name... But by always wanting more, you get caught.
Indeed, a judge, attentive enough to the case, took charge of the case and immediately noted the fraudulent nature of his "deed of ownership".
After being evicted from the hotel in 2023, Mickey Barreto is now under investigation. The man is “targeted by twenty-four counts (including fourteen for fraud) for his attempt to appropriate the New Yorker hotel.” He is currently awaiting trial. Play is over.
(MH with AsD - Source: Korii - Illustration: Unsplash)
