Landlord Pinched For Allegedly Renovating Apartment w/out Permission While Tenant Away On Vacation; Faces Unlawful Eviction, Criminal Mischief Charges

From a recent New York Post Daily NYPD Blotter:

• A landlord illegally renovated a tenant's apartment in Richmond Hill while the man was on vacation for a week, authorities said. The tenant left his 91st Avenue pad near 104th Street on June 28, only to return on July 5 and find that his belongings had been scattered about the front and rear yards and that "new Sheetrock had been placed in his apartment and some walls had been changed," court papers state.



• When confronted about the unauthorized alterations, landlord Ancil Goorahoo, 26, allegedly replied, "I have been doing construction." He was arrested later that day and charged with unlawful eviction(1) and criminal mischief, said a spokeswoman for DA Richard Brown.

Source: Daily NYPD Blotter (Queens).

(1) See NYPD Patrol Guide Procedure No. 117-11 setting forth the law and official Police policy regarding the New York City Illegal Eviction Law (and go here for what to do in New York City when victimized by an illegal lock-out.