A former Olympic luger and jewelry designer is locked in a bitter legal fight over a $26,000-a-month condo in Manhattan's West Village, where the building's owners say she and her partner stopped paying and refused to let a $6.75 million buyer through the door. Erica Terwillegar and Peter Molinari occupy the unit at 150 Charles Street alongside a third resident identified only as Andrea, and the case is now headed toward a December trial.
Owners Cathy Crane and Salvatore Trentalancia are seeking to evict Terwillegar and Molinari, accusing the pair of living in the apartment rent-free after their lease expired, according to the New York Post. Terwillegar's lease ran from August 22, 2024 through July 31, 2025 at a cost of $26,000 per month, and the owners acknowledge in their complaint that base rent was paid during that original term. But they allege both rent payments and utility charges went unpaid once the lease expired. Terwillegar has said she renewed the lease for another year, while the owners maintain she needed their agreement to do so — a dispute the complaint does not resolve either way.
Owners Say a $6.75 Million Sale Fell Through
The financial stakes in the complaint are steep. Crane and Trentalancia are seeking $624,000 for the year through July 2026, plus $327,600 in rent or payment for the occupants' continued stay, at least $30,000 for utilities and other charges, at least $100,000 in legal fees, and $250,000 in punitive damages. They also allege the occupants repeatedly refused to let a prospective buyer into the apartment, scuttling a sale for which that buyer was reportedly willing to pay $6.75 million.
Terwillegar, Molinari and their attorney Colleen Kerwick maintain that payments were made on time and describe the apartment as cluttered with the owners' own belongings. Kerwick has also questioned whether the prospective buyer was even real, and Molinari has said flatly that he does not intend to leave the building. Kerwick, who has recently represented clients in federal civil rights and habeas corpus proceedings in the Southern District of New York according to the Irish Star, is serving as the pair's legal spokesperson in the dispute.
A History of Housing Disputes and Litigation
This is not the first time Terwillegar and Molinari have been entangled in a housing dispute. They previously rented at 166 Perry Street, a lease that expired in November 2022, paying $11,000 per month there. Their former landlord at that address sought at least $66,000 in unpaid charges, ongoing monthly payments, and at least $25,000 in legal fees before the pair reached an undisclosed settlement in August 2024, per the Post's report.
The couple is currently involved in 19 lawsuits altogether, the outlet notes. Among them, Molinari sued over a sidewalk fall outside 167 Perry Street, alleging that uneven pavement caused a January 2004 fall that broke his ankle; a judge refused to dismiss that suit against the building's owner and manager in 2012. More recently, in July 2025, Terwillegar and Molinari sued Barry Leistner, who heads Koenig Iron Works, for at least $30 million in lost earnings, alleging he obtained a judgment against them in November 2012 using forged papers. Terwillegar has said she gave Leistner jewelry and gemstones valued at roughly $750,000 as debt security, and the pair say that judgment was vacated in March 2024 on grounds of fraud and forgery. Leistner sought dismissal of their lawsuit in September 2026.
Why Squatter and Holdover Tenant Are Not the Same Thing
Although the case has been framed publicly in terms of squatting, New York law draws a sharp line between that term and the situation described in this dispute. Under a 2024 budget amendment, state lawmakers clarified in New York State Senate language that a tenant does not include a squatter, a definition meant to separate unauthorized occupants from lawful renters. But because Terwillegar's occupancy began under a signed lease, legal analysis from Vishnick McGovern Milizio LLP explains that an occupant in her position is legally a holdover tenant once the lease expires, not a statutory squatter, meaning owners cannot pursue self-help removal and must instead go through formal court proceedings.
Those proceedings can take a long time. Contested holdover and eviction cases in New York City housing courts take an average of roughly 20 months to resolve, according to legal practice analysis from Justin P. Robinson, Esq., a timeline driven largely by court backlog — which helps explain why Crane and Trentalancia are only now headed toward a trial set for December, more than a year after Terwillegar's original lease expired.
A Building With a Nine-Figure Pedigree
The dispute is unfolding in one of downtown Manhattan's most exclusive addresses. A five-bedroom duplex at 150 Charles Street sold off-market for $60 million in early 2025, setting the record for the most expensive condo ever sold below 14th Street, according to 6sqft. Units in the 91-unit building have historically commanded between $4,000 and $5,000 per square foot, with amenities including a 75-foot indoor lap pool, a 3,000-square-foot fitness center, and a private courtyard, per Homes.com. The building has housed celebrity residents including Jon Bon Jovi and Ben Stiller, and supermodel Irina Shayk purchased a unit there in 2016 after relocating from 166 Perry Street — the same block where Terwillegar and Molinari once lived.
Terwillegar's own background sets her apart from a typical tenant in a housing dispute. She competed for the United States in women's singles luge at the 1988 Calgary and 1992 Albertville Winter Olympics, placing 11th and 14th respectively, according to historical results from the LA Times. She also became the first American luger to win an international medal, taking silver at the 1981 Junior Grosser Preis in Innsbruck, and later held titles as the 1983 North American champion and 1986 U.S. champion. With both sides disputing whether rent was ever current and whether a genuine buyer was turned away, the case is set to be sorted out at trial in December.
