In the summer of 2025, the Smith siblings were facing a family tragedy.

Their father was dying of pancreatic cancer in Atlanta, Georgia, and they had spent months traveling back and forth from New York City to be at his bedside as his condition deteriorated.

Financially and emotionally drained, they decided to rent out one of the bedrooms in their luxury $5,750-per-month Lincoln Square apartment to ease the mounting strain.

In urgent need of a solution, they turned to Facebook Marketplace. That decision soon spiraled into a nightmare, sources said.

The man they invited to rent their home was Matthew Charles Albertell, 35, who described himself as a Harvard Business School alumnus and the founder of a luxury menswear brand.

On his LinkedIn page and personal website, he also claimed to be a White House strategist and listed glowing testimonials from prominent figures including former President George W Bush. He also shared an Instagram post from President Trump which appeared to be directed at him.

But like so much in the age of social media, appearances can often prove misleading.

Sources said the siblings - who are being kept anonymous under a pseudonym - came to view Albertell as a fantasist who began acting strangely almost immediately after moving in that August. The sibling sharing the unit with him allegedly described him as 'f**king weird.'

Albertell became increasingly vocal about politics, expressing strong support for Trump while allegedly making hostile remarks that one of the siblings - who are of South Asian descent - found offensive.

Despite mounting concerns, the siblings tried to keep the peace as their father's death neared. They intended to end Albertell's occupancy by the end of November at the latest.

However Albertell allegedly began suggesting he had no intention of leaving.

What followed was a months-long legal and personal battle.

As the Smith siblings grieved their father, Albertell filed police reports and lawsuits accusing them of harassment, illegal lockouts and theft. The siblings are estimated to have spent more than $30,000 in attorney fees.

At one stage, a website of unknown origin bearing one of the siblings' names mysteriously appeared online, accusing him of being a 'pathological liar' and publishing photographs and contact details for him and his family members. 

The Daily Mail has seen screenshots of the website but the domain is no longer active.

Albertell sued both the siblings and The Brodsky Organization, the company that owns the luxury high-rise, alleging harassment and illegal conduct. 

The case was ultimately dismissed without prejudice after he failed to appear for a scheduled court hearing.

The Daily Mail reviewed dozens of court papers, police records, emails, text messages, videos and social media posts for this story.

The Smith siblings declined to comment on the record. The Brodsky Organization has not responded to multiple requests for comment.

Albertell, meanwhile, disputed the siblings’ version of events. He declined to answer a series of questions concerning specific allegations but insisted in an emailed statement that he is the real victim.

'To be clear, many of the claims being presented to you by them are false, materially misleading, or directly contradicted by extensive documented evidence, including video recordings, communications, witness accounts, and ongoing legal and investigative matters connected to this dispute,' he said.

'The videos alone show threats, unlawful entry, alleged theft, harassment, police involvement, and statements made by building management regarding the truthfulness and credibility' of the siblings, Albertell added.

He provided ten videos - including interactions with the siblings, police, and building management - that he claims 'emphatically contradict the allegations' against him.

Albertell moved into the apartment at the beginning of August after agreeing to pay $3,200 per month in rent.

As the weeks passed, the Smith siblings became increasingly unsettled by Albertell's behavior, leading them to question who exactly they had opened their home to.

Further examination of Albertell's online footprint revealed a web of claims that bordered on the farcical.

On social media and a personal website reviewed by the Daily Mail, Albertell portrays himself as a politically-connected entrepreneur.

On LinkedIn, he claims to work as a contracted 'Marketing Strategist' for the White House, but sources within the Trump administration told the Daily Mail they have no record of Albertell’s employment.

Albertell also claims he attended Harvard Business School and displays glowing testimonials on his website attributed to Bush, Trump and entrepreneur Miguel Forbes.

A spokesperson for President Bush told the Daily Mail: 'We have never heard of this individual and certainly did not provide or authorize that testimonial.'

Sources close to the Smith siblings say it was never entirely clear what Albertell did for work. While he did pay rent for the first few months, the payments often arrived late and were sent via an LLC, sources said.

In court filings later connected to his dispute with the building, Albertell applied for legal aid, claiming he survived on an allowance of roughly $500 per month from his parents.

Yet Albertell’s social media projected a very different lifestyle. 

He frequently posts videos from the upscale Chelsea Piers Fitness gym in Manhattan, where memberships can cost upwards of $250 per month. His latest posts indicate he has recently taken up work as a background actor.

Albertell does operate Viceroy, a self-described luxury clothing label saturated with references to wealth, heritage and 'old-money style.'

Many of the site's advertisements appear AI-generated, and the brand includes American Psycho-themed merchandise inspired by Patrick Bateman, the unreliable narrator at the center of Bret Easton Ellis’ acclaimed novel.

One sweater, priced at $100, appears to feature an AI-generated likeness of Albertell alongside the novel’s closing line: 'This is not an exit.'

Albertell also makes repeated references to Bateman on TikTok, including a screenshot of a dating-app exchange in which a woman appears to ask: 'Quoting a lot from American Psycho does feel like a [red flag]...Are you gonna murder me [yes/no]?'

Albertell appears to respond: 'Leaning towards the Y.'

Sources familiar with Albertell said his fascination with Bateman struck them as fitting given what they described as his tendency to construct and inhabit elaborate realities about himself. 

The siblings would soon discover that Albertell had been involved in another housing dispute months earlier.

In June 2025, Albertell posted videos and social media content documenting a confrontation with the owner of an Upper West Side Airbnb where he had rented a room, portraying himself as the victim of politically motivated harassment.

Albertell later claimed the woman’s son punched him in the face during the dispute and said he filed assault charges over the incident, though he later acknowledged the case was dismissed during a subsequent media appearance.

By December, the standoff inside the Lincoln Square apartment had reached breaking point.

According to sources familiar, Albertell told the siblings he wanted to continue living in the unit but did not have the money to continue paying rent, prompting a confrontation.

One video Albertell provided to the Daily Mail documented a heated phone call with the Smith siblings, in which one of them is heard asking: ‘Are you going to pay rent in the next 30 minutes or not?... If not, I’ll have people physically pull you out.’

Albertell responds: ‘If you do that, then that will not end well for you. That’s against the law.’

He told the siblings he would be informing the building of the threat and planned to pursue legal action against them.

The siblings then attempted to terminate their lease early, but the agreement was suspended after building management learned of Albertell's occupancy and accused them of illegally subletting.

At the time, neither sibling was living there. One of their friends was renting the second bedroom.

The videos provided to the Daily Mail by Albertell paint a far more complicated picture of the dispute than the siblings’ account alone suggests.

According to sources, the siblings flew back to New York in a final attempt to resolve the standoff, offering to pay for Albertell to stay in a hotel while he searched for alternative housing. He refused, the sources said.

A second video provided by Albertell appeared to show the siblings entering his bedroom and removing recording devices while he was out. He described the entry as illegal.

A third video documents Albertell corresponding with the building’s manager in late December, who appears to empathize with his situation, telling Albertell the siblings were ‘pathological’ liars who had 'BS-ed' him, putting him in a ‘very bad position.’

When the manager asks Albertell when he is planning on moving out, Albertell responds: ‘As soon as possible,’ before adding: ‘If they continue harassing me…it’s going to take a hell of a lot longer.’ 

Days later, the siblings arranged for movers to remove their belongings from the apartment. But Albertell allegedly refused to grant them access to the unit, 'barricading' himself inside, per court records, prompting the NYPD to respond.

Videos later uploaded to YouTube by Albertell appear to show officers escorting the siblings and movers through the apartment while Albertell protest that his rights are being violated, seemingly to no avail.

In subsequent filings, Albertell accused the siblings, building management and responding officers of harassment, threats and illegally entering the apartment. 

He also claimed approximately $11,000 worth of personal belongings - including jewelry - had been stolen during the move-out.

However, emails reviewed by the Daily Mail show Albertell declined to provide an itemized list of the allegedly missing items despite repeated requests from the siblings’ attorney.

Albertell later claimed there was an active warrant for one sibling’s arrest related to the dispute, according to court records.

He told the Daily Mail the same story. However, the NYPD said the only report on file was a petit larceny complaint involving two items valued at $46. No arrests have been made or sought.

All attempts to negotiate Albertell’s departure eventually failed. 

The siblings offered to pay him $8,000 to vacate, according to court records, but sources claimed he demanded more than $30,000 and an agreement could not be reached.

Messages between Albertell and the siblings' attorneys shared in court filings reference their attempts to find a compromise.

Asked to come up with a definitive figure, Albertell responds: 'I need to know whether we are even operating within the same ballpark. Judging by the prior offer, we may be in entirely different leagues.'

The Smith siblings surrendered their keys to the building in December and attempted to revoke Albertell's guest access permissions. 

Days later, Albertell successfully filed an illegal lockout petition in Housing Court, with a judge restoring his access to the building pending further litigation.

The siblings have since left New York and stopped paying rent while Albertell remains inside.

The siblings and the building remain engaged in separate legal efforts to remove Albertell.

Albertell declined to specify whether he is still living in the apartment. The lease is due to expire at the end of May.

Sources accused Albertell of exploiting New York City’s tenant-friendly housing laws to prolong the standoff and torment the family.

'These laws are supposed to protect vulnerable people from being thrown out onto the street,' one source said. 

'They’re not designed to be weaponized by someone who understands exactly how to game the system... This has been a nightmare.'