A couple is being sued by alleged squatters who they say unlawfully occupied their $930,000 duplex in Jamaica, Queens, New York.
The suit has led Juliya Fulman and her husband, Denis Kurlyand, to spend over $4,000 in legal bills, the New York Post reports.
“You can’t really even blame them in a way because it’s handed to them on a silver platter,” Kurlyand said of the “opportunists.”
“Something needs to be done because the issue is getting worse. People are taking advantage of these laws, manipulating the laws, and our hands are tied,” he added.
The invaders’ actions are reportedly in accordance with New York laws, which allow squatters to access a number of legal protections after they have occupied a property for more than 30 days.
A couple is being sued by “squatters” who they claim “broke into” their $930,000 home in Queens, New York
Image credits: https://www.instagram.com/julie_julz4/
The couple spent $530,000 on renovating the Lakeside Avenue investment property. They had also found tenants for both rental units. However, on March 5, their real estate broker, Ejona Bardhi, noticed that the locks on the duplex had been changed.
When Bardhi approached the property, she saw the silhouette of a man wearing a hooded sweatshirt and holding a drill.
The broker proceeded to call the police and the homeowners to alert them of the situation. During that time, she says she was surrounded by several men who had emerged from the property.
“They were trying to intimidate me,” she said. “It was bizarre.”
When police arrived, the men—identified by the Dailymail as Lance Hunt Sr. and Rondie L. Francis—claimed it was their property, and they had been living there since January. After being asked to provide evidence for their claims, the men said they were YouTubers and left without incident.
For Bardhi, the only solution for this situation was to change the locks again. Only she was warned that the homeowners could get arrested if they did.
“What did we do? Nothing. We put up a property for rent, and that’s it; now we’re dealing with a nightmare,” Kurlyand said.
The men returned shortly afterward, only to be escorted away by police after the owners provided evidence of ownership documents and timestamped videos showing the house had been vacant.
Despite the warning from the police, the homeowners went on to change the locks on the property.
The homeowners were told that they’d get sued if they changed the locks on their property
Image credits: https://www.instagram.com/julie_julz4/
Ten days later, Bardhi received a court order saying the alleged squatters were suing her, the homeowners, and the company handling the site, Top Nest Properties.
The men were granted an emergency lockout hearing on March 22 in Queens Civil Court, during which the couple’s lawyer, Rizpah Morrow, asked Judge Vijay Kitson for a trial, arguing that the men had “perpetrated a fraud,” as per The New York Post.
According to Kurlyand, the men showed up to court with “forged documents” alleging they had legally occupied the property.
“They found whatever they could and threw it all together. The lease they presented is ridiculous; signed on January 1 and starting January 1,” he described.
“Somebody broke into my house, and I’m in court getting sued by them. How can we be here? How is this possible? There have to be safety precautions in place.”
The next scheduled court date is set to take place on April 5. The couple’s tenants haven’t been able to move in yet.
“It could take years to evict someone who illegally broke into your house? Where’s the law in that? Why work hard to pay rent or mortgages when you can break into somebody’s house every couple of years and have luxury living?” Kurlyand added.
“As in any courtroom, you never know which way it’s going to go. It’s scary if the judge decides for whatever reason to rule against us that day. Even if we have evidence, there’s nothing we can do at the end of the day; we still have to fight in court.”
People said that the laws need to be less permissive when it comes to squatters
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