Squatter who refuses to leave $2M NYC home is a model who was once arrested for allegedly assaulting wife
The Queens squatter living in a couple’s $2 million dream mansion is a model who was arrested in December for allegedly assaulting his wife inside the home, according to a report.
Before making headlines last week for refusing to leave a recently purchased Douglaston property, Brett Flores, 32, posed for sultry snaps for Homme Manifesto Magazine, according to Daily Mail.
In the October 2020 issue, Flores left little to the imagination — even appearing in his birthday suit, covered only by a fuzzy pillow.
In the article accompanying the photos, Flores cheekily admitted he “liked it” with the lights “way down low, baby” and that he enjoys sleeping naked.
He said he aspired to be an actor who played the role of the villain “who has some ridiculous plan for world domination.”
More than three years removed from the steamy spread, Flores now finds himself in the middle of a brewing legal battle with Joseph and Susana Landa, who in October bought the Queens home from which the model refuses to depart.
Flores has repeatedly claimed he had an agreement with the home’s previous owner, Bernie Fernandez, who died in January 2023, to continue living in the residence — and has done so even as the property’s new owners want him out.
The model and self-proclaimed book nerd was arrested inside the home in December for allegedly assaulting his wife, according to Daily Mail.
Police were called to the home after the couple were allegedly arguing about their child, who was in the hospital.
Flores’ wife, who was not identified, accused him of shoving her out of the bedroom and throwing her to the floor after she stopped filming their argument, according to the Mail.
His wife allegedly sustained injuries to her hand, wrist, and pelvis.
Flores has previously lived in Hawaii, California, and Ohio, and is now insisting he is the rightful occupier of the three-bed, four-bath Queens home.
His lawyer, Dennis J. O’Sullivan, previously told The Post that his client is navigating “his own personal issues” and is taking care of a sick infant.
“We are going to issue a revelation that is going to turn that narrative on its head and the current homeowner is not a victim,” O’Sullivan said, but declined to elaborate exactly what he meant.
Flores said he was a live-in caretaker for Fernandez and court documents reveal he was paid $3,000 a week for the work.
The 68-year-old couple who purchased the Douglaston residence have taken Flores to court and said the whole situation has become a “total nightmare.”
“We couldn’t believe it, we could not believe it,” Susana told ABC 7.
Even police have been unable to get him to leave and when the couple attempted to enter the property, the model called the cops on them.
“If you have no lease and you’re not paying rent, what is your right?” Joseph complained.
The squatter is also renting out rooms in the home and driving up their heating bill – which the couple is forced to pay – by leaving windows open.
“It’s very crazy, our system is broken,” Susana said. “I never would have imagined we have no rights, no rights at all, nothing, zero.”
