A wealthy couple’s dream of a peaceful family life in their $1 million upstate New York farmhouse turned into a legal nightmare when their part-time nanny allegedly refused to leave after being fired.
In a saga straight out of a property rights horror story, Jamie and Philip Carano Nordenström of Hillsdale, New York, found themselves locked in a bitter dispute with Barbara Molnar, a nanny they hired for their newborn daughter, only to see tensions spiral into lawsuits and restraining orders over her refusal to vacate their guest house.
It all started in the summer of 2024 when the Nordenströms, seeking help with their infant, hired Molnar through an online platform for 18 hours a week at $25 an hour.
Molnar, a mother of four with nanny experience, seemed like a good fit, baking teething biscuits and reading German books to help raise the child bilingual.
Owning a stunning restored Colonial farmhouse, the couple had advertised for a full-time caregiver with a guest house available, though they settled for part-time help with Molnar.
By December 2024, Molnar requested to move into the guest house rent-free, a request the Nordenströms granted, though Jamie was cautious about avoiding formal tenant status for her.
Things quickly went south as Molnar allegedly flouted house rules, bringing her yellow Labrador, Hudson, into the pet-free guest house and allowing her youngest son to overstay a Christmas visit into mid-January 2025.
Reports of messes left uncleaned—whether from Hudson defecating in the garden or shared spaces being neglected—added fuel to the growing friction.
Upon returning from a trip to Sweden in June 2025, the couple discovered teenagers using their pool, no room in their fridge for groceries, and a vacuum clogged with dog hair—a clear breaking point.
After a noisy kitchen incident following the pool fiasco, Jamie fired Molnar, offering to help her relocate and pay her through the month, but Molnar dug in, citing tenant rights and refusing to budge.
“You don’t know the law. This is my home,” Molnar reportedly told Jamie, as shared with the Cut, a claim that reeks of exploiting legal loopholes rather than honoring a fair agreement.
Legal counsel confirmed Molnar was merely a licensee under state law, living rent-free without a rental contract, yet she ignored a 10-day notice to vacate, turning a private arrangement into a public battle.
The Nordenströms filed a lawsuit, alleging Molnar was a serial abuser of eviction laws with a prior landlord-tenant dispute in 2021 involving over $27,000 in owed payments, painting a picture of calculated opportunism.
After police interventions, mutual filming, and even a call to animal control over Hudson, a judge finally ordered Molnar to leave on September 10, 2025, issuing a temporary protection order for the couple, while mutual restraining orders were placed on both parties.
Post-eviction, Jamie discovered the guest house in shocking condition, soaked in urine on the mattress, comforter, and rugs, with liquid seeping through floorboards—a final jab that speaks louder than any progressive talking point about tenant “rights.”
