NEW YORK JUDGE ORDERS 30-YEAR-OLD MAN TO MOVE OUT OF HIS PARENTS’ HOME.
30-year-old ‘outraged’ over U.S. court ruling
SYRACUSE, N.Y. •Inareallife case of Failure to Launch, an upstate New York judge Tuesday ordered a 30-yearold man to move out of his parents’ house after they went to court to have him ejected.
Michael Rotondo told the judge he knew his parents wanted him out of the splitlevel ranch they share. But he argued that as a family member, he’s entitled to six months more time.
State Supreme Court Justice Donald Greenwood rejected that as outrageous, the Post-Standard of Syracuse reported.
Rotondo countered that he found the judge’s eviction order “outrageous” and said he planned to appeal.
“I am just so outraged,” Rotondo told the Daily Mail, saying he had been taunted by conservative groups for being a “liberal millennial.”
He also told the paper that his parents did not provide food or do his laundry for him.
Mark and Christina Rotondo decided to evict their unemployed son, who did not pay rent or do any chores around the house, in February.
His father wrote that “after a discussion with your Mother, we have decided that you must leave this house immediately.”
“You have 14 days to vacate. You will not be allowed to return. We will take whatever actions are necessary to enforce this decision.”
Two weeks later, with Michael still in the house, they wrote another letter.
“Michael Joseph Rotondo, You are hereby evicted from 408 Weatheridge Drive, Camillus, New York effective immediately. You have heretofore been our guest and there is no lease or agreement that gives you any right to stay here without our consent.
“A legal enforcement procedure will be instituted immediately if you do not leave by 15 March 2018.”
A few days later they wrote their son another note.
“Michael, here is $1,100 from us to you so you can find a place to stay,” a Feb. 18 letter starts. It goes on to suggest he sell his stereo, some tools and any weapons he may have to gain money and space.
“There are jobs available even for those with a poor work history like you,” the letter added. “Get one — you have to work!”
It also said: “If you want help finding a place your Mother has offered to help.”
Another letter asks him to remove his broken-down Volkswagen Passat from outside their home. They even offer financial assistance to get it fixed or removed.
When all efforts to remove their son failed, the couple went to court to seek an eviction order.
With a host of reporters watching in court, Michael Rotondo sparred with Judge Greenwood for 30 minutes, refusing the judge’s request he talk directly to his parents, who were sitting quietly nearby.
When Greenwood called Rotondo up to the bench, the long-haired and bearded son tried to bring the podium with him — noting it held the reporters’ microphones.
In filings, Michael Rotondo claimed he had “never been expected to contribute to household expenses, or assist with chores and the maintenance of the premises.”
“This is simply a component of his living agreement with the petitioners,” he wrote.
Asked about his living arrangements by The New York Post, he said: “It is awkward.”
In court on Tuesday, Michael argued that anyone who is dependent on the homeowners for their support should be given six months before they are evicted so that can find the means to support themselves.
But the judge said “it really seems kind of outrageous that someone in this day and age could be in someone else’s home for six months” before they have to leave.
The judge granted the couple’s request for an eviction order and also asked adult protective services to check on the case as he was concerned about what was happening at the home.
After the hearing, Rotondo called out for television camera crews to meet him outside the courthouse. There, he answered their questions, telling them he occupies a bedroom in his parents’ home, doesn’t speak to them and isn’t ready to leave home. He said he had a business but wouldn’t elaborate.
“My business is my business,” he said.
The judge instructed the parents’ lawyer to draft an eviction order. Lawyer Anthony Adorante said it would give Rotondo reasonable time to vacate.
This month, a study by real estate data group Zillow said an estimated 22.5 per cent — or 12 million — American adults between the ages of 24 and 36 are living at home with their parents, a sharp rise from 2005’s 13 per cent.
In the 2006 Matthew McConaughey romantic comedy Failure to Launch, the grown son’s parents hire a woman to try to speed their son’s exit.