The alleged squatter that has been at war with a retired couple over a $2 million Long Island home says he was asked to stay at the property to lower its value when they purchased it.
Dennis O’Sullivan, Brett Flores’s lawyer, told Fox News Digital that Susana and Joseph Landa ‘were in bed’ with Flores and asked him to stay at the property after the former owner Bernard Fernandez died.
‘After getting an incredible discount, they turned on Brett and said, “We’re not giving you any money,” and they picked up where the estate was in the middle of evicting Brett,’ O’Sullivan said.
The lawyer added that the couple agreed to pay his client $140,000 if he remained in the home to help lower its price.
The Landas’ lawyer did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com’s request for comment regarding Flores’s attorney’s claims.
According to Redfin, the home’s original asking price was $2.69 million but it closed for $2 million on October 13, 2023.
Dennis O’Sullivan, Brett Flores’s lawyer, told Fox News Digital that Susana and Joseph Landa (pictured) ‘were in bed’ with Flores and asked him to stay at the property after the former owner Bernard Fernandez died in order to receive a discount
The lawyer added that the couple agreed to pay his client $140,000 if he remained in the home to help lower its price. (Pictured: Flores with his wife, Elena Crociani)
According to Redfin, the home’s original asking price was $2.69 million but it closed for $2 million on October 13, 2023
O’Sullivan said that he had an hour-long video of a conversation between Flores and the couple that captured them congratulating him on ‘delivering the property for such a low amount.’
‘The first conversation, he was at [Joseph Landa’s] headquarters in Astoria, Queens, where the guy is decorator,’ O’Sullivan said.
‘Brett was in his company for an hour – after January, obviously, after Bernie passed away- he got a tour of the guy’s business, and they discussed this concept of where Brett sits tight, and then the Landa’s negotiate this incredible discount.’
He said that the alleged video came to light last week during a harassment case hearing between the couple and Flores and was held back due to ‘strategic decisions.’
The alleged recording might be presented at future court appearances, with the next one slated for April.
In response to the newest allegations, Daniel Landa, a family member of the couple, told Fox News Digital: ‘Hopefully, all of this will be settled at our next court date.’
O’Sullivan said that the newest allegation in the ongoing legal battle would ‘turn the narrative on its head.’
He confirmed that rumors of the couple offering to pay his client were true, but Flores refused the money.
Since the Landas, both 68, bought the home, they have not been able to move in as Flores filed for bankruptcy to delay trial and claims that Fernandez left it to him after his death on January 12, 2023.
A source told the New York Post that Fernandez, a former watch executive, had been suffering from brain bleeding and was in the early stages of dementia when Flores was hired as his caretaker.
The source told the Post that he had known Fernandez for 20 years and was in a relationship with him when Flores, a male model, first arrived on the scene.
He said: ‘I started seeing in various social media posts of him wearing really high-end watches that I know belong in the house.’
‘He gets a huge ad campaign with Park and Ronen. He’s all over social media, hanging out with gay celebrities at nightclubs. That’s not what he was hired for.’
Since the Landas, both 68, bought the home, they have not been able to move in as Flores filed for bankruptcy to delay trial and claims that Fernandez left it to him after his death on January 12, 2023
O’Sullivan said that he had an hour-long video of a conversation between Flores and the couple that captured them congratulating him on ‘delivering the property for such a low amount’
Chipped paint and multiple cameras are seen attached to the exterior of the home. Ten surveillance cameras monitor the property, but it’s unclear who placed them there
Shortly after Flores arrived, the man’s relationship with Fernandez started to fall apart, recalling, ‘I lost the man that I loved, and I couldn’t do anything to save him.’
The man added that initially the relationship with Flores had worked well, saying that he first seemed like a good fit.
Fernandez had gone through ‘various nurses’ before the pair came in contact with Flores through a relative, the source added.
He said, ‘[Flores] reached out later in the spring that he was going to be in New York because he had a photoshoot.
‘He was only in town for one day. And because of a connection with his relative, I met him for lunch. In the beginning, he was very charming. It was a great relationship.
‘[Fernandez] was reacting positively to allowing [Flores] to work him out and get him up and walking’, the man added.
In July of 2020, Flores was then hired full-time and started staying inside the home.
The source claimed that once he had landed the full-time role which came with a salary of $3,000 a week, Flores started acting differently.
The Landas decided to move to the neighborhood because they had relatives who lived in the area who could help with their disabled son, Alex, if something happened to him.
According to the Landas’ lawyer, Anthony Mordente, Flores told the couple he would only leave the property once he was paid more than $100,000.
As the couple has become embroiled in the house dilemma, they said they have been forced to foot the hefty cost of utilities and other bills for thousands of dollars while Flores lives rent-free.
Amid the ongoing delays, the Landa home has fallen into disrepair, and was seen in exclusive DailyMail.com images.
Windows were left wide open, along with splattered white paint covering several doors, windows and even security cameras.
When DailyMail.com visited the property, almost every light was on in the home – the lights in the living room, basement, garage and upstairs area.
The family decided to move to the neighborhood because they had relatives who lived in the area who could help with their disabled son, Alex, if something happened to him
A note purportedly left by Flores on the door of the home told the new owners they ‘don’t have my consent to enter,’ and said their attempts to contact him would be ‘interpreted as harassment’
‘It’s very crazy, our system is broken,’ Susana said. ‘I never would imagine we have no rights, no rights at all, nothing, zero.’ Her husband Joseph said: ‘It makes me feel completely forgotten in this legal system, unfair and not able to do anything.’
A camera – not one of the cameras from the new owners – appeared to be placed in an upstairs bedroom.
A note purportedly left by Flores on the door of the home told the new owners they ‘don’t have my consent to enter,’ and said their attempts to contact him would be ‘interpreted as harassment.’
While the home has fallen into disrepair, the couple has also claimed Flores was advertising rooms in their home-to-be on rental sites.
In the online listings, which appear to have been deleted, Flores advertised ‘The Prince Room’ for $50 a night to males, females, couples, families or students looking for a place to stay.
‘It’s very crazy, our system is broken,’ Susana said. ‘I never would imagine we have no rights, no rights at all, nothing, zero.’
‘It makes me feel completely forgotten in this legal system, unfair and not able to do anything,’ Joseph said.
The couple have since been barred from their own dream house and went on to hire a security guard to watch over the large three-bed, four-bath home.
During a visit to the Little Neck mansion, DailyMail.com found the burly security guard who declined to give his name, but did say that he ‘worked for the owner of the house.’
‘These people are good people, it is a shame what is going on,’ he added.
‘There’s probably two people [in the house]. It shouldn’t be happening. Whoever made those [squatters’ rights] rules up is smoking some kind of crack.’