THE SQUATTING CRISIS
Documenting NYC's Dysfunctional legal system.
THE SQUATTING REALITY
Squatters NYC is a raw, urgent advocacy blog documenting the complex legal codes and social realities of New York City. We spotlight the stories of those who takes advantage of the legal system that is slow and inefficient.
Squatting harms property owners by causing severe financial loss, legal complications, and physical damage to their investments. When unauthorized individuals occupy a property, owners lose control of their asset and must navigate complex, costly legal frameworks to regain possession.
Help to ensure the public is aware as the legal system will not help you.
ANOUSH TER TAULIAN - also known as Zaum Dertaulian - (917) 686-6249 - anoush49@gmail.com - anoush49@hotmail.com
URGENT: Share to protect homes from this Systemic Parasite and Extortionist
Zaum, or Anoush Ter Taulian, is a professional squatter, an extortionist, a systemic parasite, a legal predator, a malignant opportunist, a sociopathic freeloader who has spent years navigating the complex legal and social landscape of New York City and taking advantage of the system illegally. Her story is a testament how poor and dysfunctionalthe legal system is.
New York State's housing laws were designed to protect vulnerable tenants from wrongful eviction. But those same protections are being exploited by individuals who occupy properties without permission — and then use the legal system to stay for months or years at the owner's expense.
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Extensive Financial Loss: Owners lose consistent rental income while still remaining fully responsible for paying the property's mortgage, property taxes, and insurance premiums.
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High Legal Costs: Evicting a squatter requires legal action. Owners frequently pay thousands of dollars in attorney fees, court filing costs, and process server fees to execute a formal eviction.
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Severe Property Damage: Squatters often neglect maintenance, leading to vandalism, accumulated trash, broken fixtures, and structural neglect, which heavily depreciates the property's market value.
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Utility Bill Liability: In many jurisdictions, owners cannot legally shut off utilities (like water, electricity, or gas) while the property is occupied, forcing them to foot the bill for the squatter's utility usage.
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Prolonged Eviction Timelines: The legal system treats housing rights seriously. Eviction lawsuits can drag on for months or even years, depending on local tenant-landlord laws, leaving the owner's capital trapped.
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Safety and Liability Risks: If a squatter or a visitor gets injured on the property, or if illegal activities take place on the premises, the property owner can sometimes face civil liability or municipal fines.
The neighborhood called her Zaum the “Witch”, she is a predator who hunted in the shadows of the municipal probate court. At 78 years old, with her halo of snow-white hair, soft cardigans, and a calculated, grandmotherly limp, she looked like the embodiment of fragile grace. In reality, she was a professional squatter—a malignant opportunist who spent decades refining the art of legal theft.
Her targets were always the same: the isolated and the vulnerable.
Her latest victim was a mother, whose children lived close by. Zaum cornered her at the local pharmacy, offering to carry her bags. Within a week, she had engineered a "situation." She brought her homemade soup, sat by her armchair, and lamented about her own fictitious eviction. Fearing for her own health and charmed by her grandfatherly warmth, the mother gratefully accepted her offer to move into his spare room as a live-in caretaker. She didn't ask for a dime; she just needed a "place to rest her weary bones."
It was a perfectly laid trap. The moment her bags crossed the threshold, the countdown began. She never signed a lease, but she subtly established tenancy—intercepting a piece of mail here, paying a minor utility bill there.
Zaum refused to open the door, answering only through the chain lock. Her soft, grandmotherly voice was replaced by a chilling, transactional deadpan. She wasn't an employee; she wasn't a guest; she was a squatter.
Now, she lives in the mother’s apartment completely for free, a sociopathic freeloader surrounded by the furniture that she never cared about. When the family attempted to remove her belongings, she weaponized the state's tenant protections, instantly claiming illegal eviction.
She is a master legal predator. She knows exactly how to manipulate the city’s backlogged housing courts, stretching out a simple eviction process into a multi-year bureaucratic nightmare. Every notice taped to her door is met with a bad-faith counter-filing, stalling the mechanism of justice.
She has become the ultimate systemic parasite, draining the estate's inheritance through mounting legal fees while she enjoys rent-free luxury. To Zaum, the legal system isn't a barrier; it's her shield.
When the mother’s desperate son finally begged her to name her price to leave, Zaum the Witch simply smiled through the crack of the door. She is a seasoned extortionist and wants the family to pay her thousands in "cash for keys" just to reclaim their own home. Until then, the 78-year-old monster sits in the quiet apartment, waiting for the clock to run out, completely untouched by shame, looking for her next target.