Queens officials say law could have kept accused squatters out of Bayside home

It could have been prevented in the first place.

That’s what some county leaders in Queens are saying after two accused squatters took over a home in Bayside. They were arrested three weeks after a 7 On Your Side Investigation.

There’s a law in place to help safeguard homes, one that county leaders said wasn’t followed.

When Richard Klibschon died back in 2018, he didn’t have a spouse, children or immediate heirs so his million-dollar home sat empty.

“Nobody told us,” said Gerard Sweeney, an attorney for the Queen’s public administrator.

It’s the office that works behind the scenes to handle and protect estates when there’s no one else to do it.

“If they notified us, we would be able to act, but they don’t notify us,” Sweeney said.

He said there’s a city law that should have been triggered back in 2018 that requires a death to be reported to the public administrator when there aren’t any immediate heirs.

In Klibschon’s case, a “cousin” was listed on his death certificate.

“Hospitals and the funeral directors, they’re supposed to notify the public administrator whenever they have a person who’s burying the person who’s a cousin or more removed,” Sweeney said.

He said the banks involved with Klibschon’s mortgage also did not notify the public administrator.

In April, concerned neighbors sent a signed petition to their local congressman pleading for help, who then helped get a public administrator appointed to the estate.

“The public administrator was responsible for this house, so we had to get them involved,” Representative Tom Suozzi said.

The public administrator then started to take legal action to get the alleged squatters, Vernon Glass and Lusascha Taylor, evicted. But before the months-long process could play out, neighbors called 7 On Your Side.

The Queen’s district attorney then launched her own investigation into the couple, and less than three weeks after the 7 On Your Side Investigation aired, the couple was arrested.

“They did not have a legal right to be there,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said.

Glass and Taylor are now facing felony charges and were ordered not to return to the property. They’ve both pleaded not guilty.

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