Melissa Berkelhammer Evicted From Apartment: Former Socialite’s Squatting Days Are Over

Melissa Berkelhammer has been evicted from the New York City apartment she had been squatting in for the last year with her mother, according a report by the Daily Mail. Melissa and her mother had taken over an apartment that belonged to a friend of hers, Julianne Michelle Di Palma. Julianne and her mother were forced to live with Melissa and her mother for over a year.

Julianne and her mother had struggled to get the squatting pair out of their apartment on the Upper East Side, but they were finally successful after they received some help. The movers came on June 24 to remove Melissa and her mother from the home, but the move was not an easy one.

An insider shared some details about the move. Melissa and her mother are now living in a hotel room.

“It took hours to get them out. Julianne hired movers and a large storage space on East 62nd Street so that their belongings would not be thrown out or lost.”

A neighbor confirmed the pair were evicted to the New York Daily News.

“They were squatters. It should have never gone on this long.”

Melissa Berkelhammer has lived a troubled life over the last year. She was in a car accident in 2014. That is labeled as the source of her downfall. The former New York socialite was a graduate of Princeton and Harvard Law. At the age of 38, she was a writer for both Avenue and the Huffington Post.

However, the car accident changed her life completely, according to People Magazine. According to a source, because of the accident, “her shoe had flown over 200 feet. She was bloody and just in and out of consciousness.”

Afterward, no one wanted anything to do with Melissa, according to her lawyer, Mark Heller. He spoke about his client after she was accused of shoplifting in May.

“One minute you’re a bright light in society, the next you’re in a dark place. Melissa fell on hard times. [Berkelhammer] was cast aside. She became a social pariah in society where she was once held in high regard. The same girls that were very much attentive to her suddenly turned their backs to her. She’s under a lot of stress and a lot of strain. She’s lost her jobs writing and blogging. The medication leaves her feeling loopy and disoriented.”

Melissa has retained a new job, but it is not as a blogger. She will work as a restaurant host. After the accident, she depended on her mother for support. According to Scallywag and Vagabond, Melissa spoke about her parents and the life she used to live in an interview.

“My parents enable me to live the lifestyle that I do. I don’t think that there is anything wrong with that. I am grateful that I have the luxury to follow my dreams, which, of course, I am still trying to figure out what they are, and not work at some job that I hate because I need to support myself. Because, as everyone knows, even to live in a dump, the rents nowadays are just ridiculous!”

As for her friend, Julianne, she never imagined that allowing her friend to stay with her in March, 2014, would turn into such an issue for her and her mother. If Melissa and her mother were not removed from the apartment by July 10, she would have lost the apartment. Julianna spoke with Inside Edition about the entire ordeal.

“I knew her from the charity circuit. We’d say hello. She seemed pleasant enough. I figured two or three weeks, what’s the worst that can happen?”

The worst did happen. Melissa stayed in the apartment for 15 months, and she even moved her mother in with her. Julianne’s mother called the ordeal an “absolute nightmare.” Her daughter shared even more of the troubles they had over the 15-month period.

“I have never seen anyone with more designer shoes, handbags or clothes. She has about 50 bags in luggage and portable wardrobes. I lock myself in my bedroom. I feel so confined to that space. I can’t even use my living room or my kitchen. She’s sort of taken over everything with her belongings and her clothes.”

Julianne also revealed that Melissa and her mother would argue constantly. She called the police on several occasions. She now has her apartment back.

What do you think of this strange New York tale?

[Photo by Michael Loccisano / Getty Images]