Squatter sublets NYC apartment while owing ‘betrayed’ landlord $72K in rent

Matthew Sedacca
·3 min read
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Thor Boucher, landlord Ed Yau, Boucher allegedly menacing Airbnb guests
Thor Boucher, landlord Ed Yau, Boucher allegedly menacing Airbnb guests

A crafty squatter bilked his landlord of at least $72,000 in rent for his Lower East Side apartment — then made tens of thousands in profit by subletting the unit, the owner charges.

For three years, computer programmer Thor Boucher hasn’t paid a cent of his bargain-rate $2,000-a-month, two-bedroom, one-bathroom Essex Street pad, claiming he didn’t have to because the building was noisy and shook,according to landlord Ed Yau and Manhattan Civil Court documents.

The alleged freeloader had no qualms renting the space out, though, charging as much as $1950 per room monthly since November 2021 on platforms including Airbnb and Craigslist.

A crafty squatter bilked his landlord of at least $72,000 in rent for his Lower East Side apartment — then made tens of thousands in profit by subletting the unit, the owner charges. Courtesy of Ed Yau
A crafty squatter bilked his landlord of at least $72,000 in rent for his Lower East Side apartment — then made tens of thousands in profit by subletting the unit, the owner charges. Courtesy of Ed Yau
Boucher hasn’t paid rent for three years on his two-bedroom apartment, according to his frustrated landlord. Courtesy of Ed Yau
Boucher hasn’t paid rent for three years on his two-bedroom apartment, according to his frustrated landlord. Courtesy of Ed Yau

“I feel betrayed by my politicians, the bureaucracy,” Yau told The Post.

“The system needs to be fair because right now it’s easily exploited,” he added. “Housing court is not functioning so rent is optional — they don’t have to pay and nothing is going to happen to them.”

The man currently in Yau’s apartment said he moved in October and confirmed he paid rent to Boucher — but declined to share how much and said he had no clue Boucher was bilking the landlord.

“You’ll have to talk to Thor,” he said repeatedly, before shutting the door.

Yau slammed Boucher as a “professional grifter,” who stopped paying rent less than three months after inking his December 2020 lease. Efforts to boot Boucher have been stymied by the state’s tenant-friendly laws and the housing court system “bending over backwards for the tenant,” Yau said.

The alleged freeloader charges as much as $1950 per room monthly to subletters. Courtesy of Ed Yau
The alleged freeloader charges as much as $1950 per room monthly to subletters. Courtesy of Ed Yau

Boucher also applied in 2022 and 2023 to the state’s COVID rent-relief program, which effectively barred Yau from evicting his tenant during the application process.

Yau claims his state reps, State Sen. Brian Kavanagh, the chamber’s Housing Committee chair and a strong advocate for tenant protections, and state Assemblywoman Grace Lee, have been little help.

“They gave sympathy, but no action,” he said. “Just lip service.”

Elected officials are more likely to pursue legislation and policies benefiting tenants over landlords in order to appeal to a wider voter base, Yau said.

Gov. Hochul and the top state legislators reached an initial housing deal Friday for the delayed state budget that would include a variant of the “Good Cause Eviction” bill pushed for years by lefty lawmakers.

Boucher has rented rooms in the apartment out on Airbnb and Craigslist since Nov. 2021. Courtesy of Ed Yau
Boucher has rented rooms in the apartment out on Airbnb and Craigslist since Nov. 2021. Courtesy of Ed Yau

The preliminary agreement would allow tenants in market-rate units who face eviction to drag landlords to housing court if their annual rent is jacked up more than 5% plus the latest Consumer Price Index or 10% overall, sources said.

Landlords also would have to automatically renew leases for tenants who are up to date on their rent payments.

Squatter horror stories like Yau’s, meanwhile, will scare landlords to pull their units from the market, warned Ann Korchak, president of the industry group Small Property Owners of New York

Landlord Ed Yau said he felt “betrayed” by his politicians and housing court bureaucracy. Helayne Seidman
Landlord Ed Yau said he felt “betrayed” by his politicians and housing court bureaucracy. Helayne Seidman

“If it’s a small building, if one person stops paying, that’s the difference between you being able to pay your taxes and mortgage or not,” she said.

“The average person who has a 1-3 family house is so risk averse because they hear these stories [and think] ‘Without any support I’ll be stuck housing somebody for such a long time.'”

Boucher, Kavanagh, and Lee did not respond to requests for comment.