Judge Rules 30-Year-Old Must Move Out of His Parents' House Despite Praising His Legal Research
A New York family situation has escalated to the court, as a 30-year-old man insisted on staying in his parents' home. Michael Rotondo, who has been rooming with his parents for eight years, was evicted with the help of a Judge who sided with his parents on Tuesday, May 22.
Michael eventually had to represent himself in court, after refusing to move out of his parents' home. His parents, Christina and Mark Rotondo, have given him five notices and even an offer to gift him with cash that he can use to establish himself elsewhere, according to CNN.
According to Michael Rotondo, his parents owe him at least six months of notice before they can try to boot him out of the house.
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New York State Supreme Court Justice Donald Greenwood had spent half an hour trying to gently convince the 30-year old man to just voluntarily move out and start anew elsewhere, according to Syracure.com.
Thirty minutes of going back and forth, mostly between Michael, who opted to represent himself for the case, and the judge proved to be unproductive, though. In the end, Judge Greenwood ruled that Michael will have to move out.
The Judge, concerned about the situation for Christina and Mark, has also ordered adult protective services to look into the matter as well.
Michael has cited the case of Kosa v. Legg: "that there is 'Common law requirement of six-month notice to quit before tenant may be removed through ejectment action," as he explained.
The Judge praised the man for doing his own legal research but countered that there's an appellate court decision that ruled that family members don't get special treatment, barring a few exceptions.
Greenwood also tried to get Michael to speak to his parents directly and settle it among themselves, and the judge said he would wait for them to do that. The 30-year-old insisted on making a legal argument before the judge instead.
"I'm granting the eviction," he said. "I think the notice is sufficient," Greenwood said in his decision. The judge also called Michael's demand for a six-month notice "outrageous."
As for Michael, he called the judge's ruling "ridiculous."
"It seems to me like I should be provided with, you know, 30 days or so, because generally you get 30 days after you're found, you know, to have to vacate the premises," he said. "So I'm expecting something like that. But realistically, if that's not the case, I don't know," he said to reporters after leaving the courtroom.
The relationship between him and his parents have become difficult, according to him.
"I don't really hope to reconcile. I really just want to get out of the situation," he noted.
