NYC landlord forced to spend $100K to boot squatters — as Dems Ron Kim, John Liu push for law changes

A beleaguered Queens landlord said her life became a living hell after a crew of squatters broke into her home — and it took her two years and $100,000 to get rid of them.

Youngseh Bae, 59, is just the latest Big Apple landlord with a hellish squatter tale, as the troublesome trend of hostile home takeovers continues to gain traction in the five boroughs.

“They basically broke into our home,” Bae said Wednesday. “Our house was boarded up, all the windows were blocked by boards, but somehow they used a back window to get into the house.

“My husband went to the house and knocked on the door and someone came out and said, ‘This is my house.’ It was crazy,” she said. “The majority of the homeowners who are victims of the squatters are not big builders or rich people. We are middle income families.”

On Wednesday, a pair of state politicians stood outside Bae’s home to announce a new bill to define squatters as unwanted intruders rather than legal tenants — the latest attempt to tweak the law to bar troublesome intruders from bedding down under someone else’s roof.

State Sen. John Liu and Assemblyman Ron Kim, both Queens Democrats, said their proposal would “erase any kind of ambiguity” in the law that an unwanted homesteader is not entitled to claim private property as their own — making it crystal clear what has to happen when cops show up.

“We all agree that people intruding into other people’s homes or squatters have no rights and should not be allowed to have any rights,” Liu said.

“The law, the bill, clearly defines what a squatter is — somebody who has entered the premise without any permission of the homeowner or the property owner or anybody who has any rights to occupy that space,” he said. “A squatter is a squatter and we need to make sure that our laws clearly define that.”

The bill is just one of several proposed changes in the law pending in the state capital.

Sen. Mario Mattera and Assemblyman Ed Flood, both Republicans, have unveiled another bill that would make it easier for property owners to evict these unwelcome guests.

Inspired by a recent successful measure in Florida, the initiative is just one part of a comprehensive legislative package designed to protect lawful residents from exploitation by intruders.

The proposed legislation seeks to shift the burden of proof onto squatters, compelling them to prove their right to occupy a residence rather than burdening property owners with lengthy legal battles.

It also carries safeguards to ensure landlords don’t misuse the statute by putting significant penalties as high as triple the value, along with court costs for wrongful evictions.

“New York State is clearly in the midst of a squatting epidemic with stories every single day highlighting the damage this lawlessness is wreaking on New Yorkers,” Mattera said. “These laws are being exploited by squatters and are leaving our communities at risk and our homeowners in peril.

“I want to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to address these injustices head-on, to ensure the safety and security of our neighborhoods and the hard-earned assets of our citizens.”

But at the heart of the proposal is a push to address loopholes in New York’s property laws, particularly concerning the definition of tenants and the eviction process.

One issue is an area of the law that allows someone within city boundaries to claim squatters rights, or “adverse possession,” of private property if they live there for at least 30 days — a far cry from the 10-year requirement in most of the Empire State.

That means getting a squatter evicted under the law — and at a time when the city’s housing courts are inundated in a backlog of cases — could take as long as two years.

And there are other proposals in Albany to clear up the logjam.

Assemblyman Jake Blumencraz and Sen. Patricia Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick have also introduced a bill to exclude squatters from protections against evictions afforded to legal tenants — and would raise the threshold in the five boroughs to 45 days.

“We have a holy trinity right now that we’ve never had before, which is a cost of living crisis, a housing crisis and the migrant crisis happening in the city at the same time,” Blumencranz told The Post last week.

“These people are here, they are looking for a place to live and people on the Internet are providing an avenue for them that is free,” he said. “I think anyone who’s paying attention sees this is becoming an increasing issue.”

Outside Bae’s home on Wednesday, Kim, the assemblyman co-sponsoring the new bill with Liu, said the current law is simply “devastating for families.”

“So, we want to send a clear message to squatters or anyone who is trying to squat, that your days are over in New York,” he said. “We are going to hold you accountable going forward.”