Baltimore lawyer files second lawsuit against Meta

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Baltimore lawyer Barry Glazer, who has been locally famous for decades for his bombastic commercials, says people are using Facebook Marketplace and other platforms to coordinate illegal squatting on vacant property he owns.

Glazer filed a proposed class-action lawsuit on June 10 in Maryland federal court against Meta Platforms, Facebook, Instagram and Google, alleging they allow users to illegally sell access to homes they don’t own.

“These individuals, using the platforms provided and operated by Defendants, openly advertise ‘squatter houses,’ break into Plaintiff’s vacant homes, change locks, and sell access to these homes to third-party individuals, collecting money and falsely claiming legal authority to provide entry,” the lawsuit states.

The platforms, Glazer told The Daily Record, “are not doing a damn thing about that.”

The case is Glazer’s second proposed class-action suit against Meta in the past month. In mid-May, he sued the company for allowing the sale of counterfeit collectible coins on Facebook Marketplace.

The lawsuit brings claims of negligence, common law fraud, unjust enrichment, and breach of contract. It also alleges violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO.

The class would consist of “all property owners or real estate companies in the United States who maintained vacant properties unlawfully accessed and occupied due to content promoted on Facebook, Facebook Marketplace, Instagram or YouTube.”

Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.

Glazer, a personal injury and medical malpractice lawyer, is widely known for his TV ads intended to appeal to the “working person.” He sells merchandise with the slogan, “Don’t urinate on my leg and tell me it’s raining.”

Some of his ads conclude, “Barry Glazer: legal advocate for the injured, disabled and urinated-upon.”

Glazer, Gina Gargeu, and Century 21 Downtown, a real estate company that they co-own, are the plaintiffs in the case filed June 10. Glazer is the sole plaintiff in the case regarding counterfeit coins. In both cases, the plaintiffs are represented by Brandon R. James, of Glazer’s law office.

Glazer and Gargeu said people advertise on Instagram, Facebook Marketplace and elsewhere, offering six months of rent for about $1,200. The unlawful residents change the locks and have fake leases, and it is difficult and costly to evict them, they said. Sometimes, the owner will pay them to leave, rather than deal with the eviction process in court.

“It just takes forever,” Glazer said.

Gargeu said she manages houses that banks have foreclosed on, and discovers a handful of squatters each month. Each instance delays the sale and costs her company more than $1,000.

“One of my properties has had squatters in it three times,” Gargeu said in an interview. “It’s very nerve-wracking, very time-consuming, and it’s exhausting.”

The Instagram ads, she said, are “beyond brazen.”