A Holocaust survivor who returned home to the Hamptons to find her tenant still there refusing to leave has spoken out to slam her tenant and claim that she ‘totally destroyed’ some of her furniture and left bags of trash outside.
Genya Markon, 78, spends the winters in Israel and the summers at her $675,000 home in Hampton Bays – which has been in her family since it was purchased by her parents in 1967.
But Markon said she flew home to the Hamptons only to find her tenant still there.
Markon told DailyMail.com that she had gone without renting the home during the winters for 10 years because she was ‘wary’ about whom would rent the home.
‘I didn’t know who would want to live in Hampton Bays in the winter. Then I learned there were real estate agents who deal with winter rentals,’ Markon said.
‘I rented it to this woman, Julie Rinke, who presented herself as an interior decorator. She had two daughter who were in college, one a freshman and one a sophomore.’
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Tenant Julie Rinke, a real estate agent, was spotted by DailyMail.com at the property on Friday
Landlord Genya Markon, not pictured, said she leased the home to Rinke in July 2019 and the lease would have expired on June 18, 2020 at the height of the coronavirus pandemic
The landlord could not return from Israel because ‘there were no planes’ so she decided to renew Rinke’s lease for another full year from July 1, 2020 to June 18, 2021
Now, Rinke, pictured, has allegedly refused to leave the home after the end of the lease
Markon ultimately leased the home out to Rinke in July 2019 and the lease would have expired on June 18, 2020 at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
The landlord could not return from Israel because ‘there were no planes’ and ‘nobody was traveling’ so she decided to renew Rinke’s lease for another full year from July 1, 2020 to June 18, 2021.
Then, Markon said she started to see signs of trouble as Rinke allegedly used the pandemic in an attempt to persuade her not to return home.
‘In January, I already told her I was returning to the United States to spend my summer,’ Markon said.
‘She kept trying to persuade me that I would be endangering myself to COVID and find all kinds of excuses not to say that she was leaving.’
Markon said Rinke ‘begged’ her to sign another lease with her so she could return after the summer – but still never left for the summer to allow Markon to return home.
instead, Markon said Rinke ‘signed a pandemic hardship application saying she does not have the funds to find another house.’
‘That is of no interest to me at this point, this is my house!’ Markon said. ‘I returned, flew in 6,000 miles, and I want to spend my summer here.’
Markon has also accused Rinke of damaging furniture and leaving trash to fester
Markon has accused Rinke of leaving piles of garbage outside of the house, pictured, some of which does not appear to be bagged
Markon has said Rinke did not have permission to move furniture, like a couch pictured standing on its side
Piles of dirty dishes appear to have been placed inside of the home’s garage
Smelling trouble, Markon said she offered to waive two months of Rinke’s rent in April in a bid to get her to leave the home by the time she returned.
‘I said, “I will waive your May and June rent if you sign this and promise me you will be out.” Of course she didn’t sign it, and by that time I hired a lawyer,’ Markon said.
She added: ‘It was already clear to me that this woman was doing whatever she could to stay in my place.’
Markon has also accused Rinke of trying to blackmail her into paying her to leave, even after the landlord said she offered to waive months of her rent.
The landlord recounted Rinke saying: ‘Well, if Genya wants to pay me some of my rent, I’ll consider it and I’ll be out of here as soon as possible.’
‘So she wants to blackmail me after she’s destroyed my belongings and turned my life upside down,’ Markon said.
The irked landlord said Rinke ‘never imagined’ that she would return from Israel.
‘She had the audacity to think I wouldn’t get on a plane and come back here,’ Markon said.
Southampton Town policeman talks with the neighbor where a Hamptons squatter allegedly trashed her rental home
Markon also told DailyMail.com that she was ‘astounded’ by the condition in which she found her home.
‘She said that she had permission to change beds and move furniture around, which is absolutely not true,’ Markon said.
‘She had no permission to bring in a dog or a cat, which I understand now she is declaring she had permission.’
Rinke, a real estate agent, has not responded to requests form DailyMail.com for comment.
Police officers were seen approaching Rinke while she sat in a vehicle outside the home on Friday. It was not immediately clear what police had said to Rinke.
On Thursday, Rinke was spotted by DailyMail.com returning to the three-bedroom, two bathroom property.
Julie Rinke was seen on Thursday returning to a home owned by Holocaust survivor Genya Markon, 78 – which Rinke was supposed to vacate on June 18. Markon has now taken Rinke to court to try and force her from the property
Markon’s home in Hampton Bays was leased in July 2020, and was due to be handed over on June 18. Rinke, however, remains in the property
Rinke, a real estate broker, is accused by Markon of taking advantage of laws against eviction which were designed to prevent landlords taking advantage during the pandemic. Markon says her short-term lease does not apply
Markon’s lawyer, Anthony W. Cummings, filed a lawsuit in Suffolk Supreme Court at the end of June seeking Rinke’s ouster as well as damages.
‘She traveled all the way from Israel to spend the summer in her home and she has a tenant who won’t vacate,’ explained Cummings, according to the New York Post.
‘Genya is in a real bad spot.’
Markon said that Rinke is taking advantage of pandemic protection against eviction, designed to prevent unscrupulous landlords in New York from forcing people from their homes during the global crisis.
But the protection should not apply to short-term leases, Markon said.
‘My tenant, who is also a real estate agent, refuses to leave in spite of the fact that she only has a seasonal lease and is not protected by the hardship application she filed,’ Markon said.
Cummings questioned Rinke’s qualifications, claiming in court filings that she ‘is conducting herself in a bad faith, dishonest and manipulative way to exploit the COVID-19 pandemic and the mass confusion and gridlock in the lower courts all in an effort to block surrendering possession of the Premises.’
Cummings told the New York Post: ‘All you have to do is check a box and you can stay for free until at least August 31st.
‘What is it? The honor system? It is easy to abuse. There’s no penalty for lying, and no evidence to prove.’
Rinke is also accused of failing to protect the property.
Some of Markon’s belongings have been ‘totally destroyed’ and Markon found ‘piles of garbage’ festering outside the house.
Rinke also took down paintings already hanging in the space, Markon claimed.
She said that some of the paintings ‘are quite valuable including a family portrait by the well-known Ukrainian painter David Burliuk.’
Cummings concluded: ‘She displaced Genya and refuses to give back her home.
‘Genya flew in all the way from Israel and now she’s the one without a home.’
A Southampton town police officer is seen talking to a neighbor, next to the home where Rinke is refusing to leave
Markon’s home, set back from the road, is where she usually spends her summers but now she says she has nowhere to go
Cummings is also representing the owners of a home in Water Mill, who are trying to evict their over-staying tenants.
Stephanie and her husband Paul Pion, the chief administrative officer of the Manhattan finance firm, have remained at their $10,000-a-month Water Mill rental despite their two-year lease expiring on May 31.
In a lawsuit filed against the Pions in June, the owner of the Long Island property claimed the wealthy couple were exploiting New York’s Covid-19 moratorium barring eviction and refusing to vacate the house.
The filing claims the Pions have another home in Manhattan and have been using ‘shifty’ means to stay at the rental – which has also allegedly been in a state of disarray.
But Stephanie, 39, has insisted ‘there’s no truth’ to the allegations, claiming she’s just trying to care for her two children, ages six and 11, while they search for a new place to live.
Stephanie Pion broke down in tears on Thursday as she addressed claims that she and her husband Paul Pion, the chief administrative officer of Cantor Fitzgerald, were squatting at a $5million Hamptons house
The mother-of-two, 39, tearfully explained she and her family have nowhere else to go, before dropping to her knees on the driveway and pleading for ‘more time’
Stephanie and Paul have been renting out a property in Water Mill for the past two years for $10,000 a month, but a court document claims their lease ended on May 31. They are pictured in an Instagram post
‘I have two kids,’ she said tearfully before dropping to her knees on the driveway and pleaded for mercy. ‘I’m just trying to take care of them. I’ve been trying to leave. I just need more time.’
In his filing, the owner of the home revealed he found a buyer for the house and expressed concerns that the Pions could jeopardize the $4,970,000 sale, which was scheduled to close on Tuesday.
But a person close to the family told DailyMail.com that the Pions’ tenancy had been open-ended, and that the landlord failed to give them appropriate notice that their lease was being terminated which would allow for an orderly transition to leave the house.
‘Realizing now that they didn’t give proper notice, the owner is scrambling to blame someone and the purchaser is using bully tactics to force their hand,’ the Pion family associate said.
Homeowner Damian Krause has accused the couple of refusing to leave Water Mill house, but a source close to the Pions say they were not given adequate notice to vacate the property. Krause is pictured above with his wife Sharon in Water Mill, New York in 2012
The homeowner, Damian Krause, further claimed the couple had refused to allow potential buyers to tour the home and even once removed a lawn sign saying the property was ‘IN CONTRACT.’
Earlier this week a source told the New York Post that the house looked like an episode of Hoarders, referring to the TV series that documents people who fill their homes from floor to ceiling with trash and belongings.
An appraiser who was eventually let into the house also allegedly described the place as a ‘mess’ and said ‘the occupant was crazy.’
In photos obtained by DailyMail.com, however, the house did not appear to show such signs of damage or clutter.
The filing painted the Pions as an ‘intolerable nuisance’, hosting large parties, and causing damage to the home through ‘unauthorized alterations, misuse and overuse of the household systems and lack of routine maintenance.’