NYC Couple in Disbelief as Intruders Take Over $930K Investment Home

Debarylife – A couple who are being accused of trespassing into a duplex in Queens and refusing to leave the $930,000 house are suing the property’s original owners.

This is just another absurd development in the borough’s continuing squatter drama, which has seen several residences invaded by trespassers in recent weeks who assert legal claims to the properties due to permissive legislation in New York City.

Juliya Fulman, the owner of the most recent house under attack, told The Post on Sunday, “It’s absurd.” Fulman has already invested over $4,000 in legal fees in an attempt to fight the claim.

“My house was broken into by these individuals. The homeowner in Jamaica remarked, “It’s unfair to us as homeowners that we are not protected by the city.”

Squatters simply need to be present on a piece of land for 30 days inside the five boroughs to be granted a plethora of legal rights that make it difficult for the property owner to give them up.

Calling the squatters “opportunists,” Juliya’s husband Denis Kurlyand remarked over the phone with The Post, “you can’t even blame them in a way because it’s handed to them on a silver platter.”

The situation is becoming worse, so something needs to be done. Our options are limited because people are abusing the legal system and changing the legislation, he claimed.

How did we act? None at all. Our ordeal began when we decided to rent out a property.

When their real-estate broker, Ejona Bardhi, learned on March 5 that the home’s locks had been changed, the pair spent $530,000 on renovations and found tenants for both rental flats at the Lakeside Avenue investment property.

According to the broker, Bardhi returned to the house after learning that the lock change had not been approved and noticed, through the window, a man’s silhouette carrying a drill and dressed in a hooded sweatshirt.

According to Bardhi, several men came out of the house and surrounded her car, which was parked in front of the house, while she was going to call the police.

She remarked, “They were attempting to scare me.”

According to the outlet, Lance Hunt, Sr., and Ronnie L. Francis were the two accused squatters who claimed to have been residing there since January when law enforcement came, but they could not produce any documentation to support their claims.

Both Bardhi and the homeowners announced their plan to replace the locks as the men safely exited the house. Police warned them that if they did, they would be taken into custody.

That threat wasn’t baseless. Barely two weeks afterward, Adele Andaloro, a 47-year-old homeowner from Queens, was taken into custody for locking up her $1 million home in Flushing, hoping to chase out any homeless people.

Everything they could find was thrown together. “It’s absurd that the lease they offered is signed on January 1st and begins on that date,” the man affirmed.

“It is unbelievable that they dared to appear in court,” Juliya continued.

According to the site, Dennis Harris, the squatters’ attorney, his clients had provided him with “enough for me to believe they were living there,” including a lease, a rental application, and text messages.

On April 5, the court is next set to convene. Judge Kitson stated that allowing their tenants to move in before the case is postponed could escalate the situation when the couple requested if they could do so in the meantime.

According to Kurland, “Landlords are not well-served by the court system.” If someone got into your home unlawfully, might it take years to get them out? In what sense is that legal? You can live in luxury by breaking into someone’s home every few years, so why work hard to pay rent or a mortgage?

Kurland stated it is still “scary” to have the final say taken away from him, even though there has been some movement in getting the issue resolved.

You never know where things are going to go in a courtroom, though. It’s unsettling because, in the end, even with the best of proof, we are powerless and will still have to defend the case in court if the judge decides to find against us.”

“I’m in court being sued by someone who broke into my house.” How are we able to be in this place? In what way is this feasible? Safety procedures must be followed,” he stated.