New York City squatters’ lawsuit tossed after homeowners sued: Report | Only Sports And Health

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A judge has thrown out a lawsuit by a pair of alleged squatters who sued the owners of a $930,000 New York City home after cops escorted them off the property in March, the New York Post reported.

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“The case is over,” the couple’s attorney Rizpah Morrow told reporters outside Queens Civil Court on Friday, shortly after Judge Vijay Kitson ruled on the case.

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“The landlords, the owners, own the house, they have possession. The people who said they were locked out have walked away from the situation. They are no longer requesting to be restored to possession and we still have their stuff.”

One of the home’s owners, Juliya Fulman, said although they won the case, systemic issues remain.

“Right now, there is a very big problem with these criminals and these squatters. Lawmakers need to make laws in order to protect the people, the citizens,” she told the Post outside of the courtroom.

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“These criminals are trying to drive people out of New York and that is not going to happen. I still don’t feel like I have the full justice in this case because there are people who broke into my house. They claimed they had property there. I would like to know how they got property there.”

The couple had spent over $500,000 renovating the Queens residence as an investment property. Fulman told the Post last week that she incurred thousands of dollars in legal fees defending the ownership of her home.

“I want justice. I want these people to come forward. I want them to say how they got into the house, how their belongings got there and, yeah, it would be very good for them to reimburse us for all of our time and legal fees, so coming here today I don’t know if we accomplished much,” she said.

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The suit, filed on March 14, alleged that the men were unlawfully removed from the residence, which they said they had been legally renting from Fulman and her partner Denis Kurlyand since January.

In their filing, the alleged squatters, identified in court records as Lance Hunt and Rondie L. Francis, presented a range of evidence, including a signed lease agreement, several pieces of mail addressed to the home and a fast-food delivery receipt, all dated within the timeframe the men claimed to be living there.

The couple presented officers with paperwork proving they were the rightful owners and timestamped surveillance footage showing that the house had been vacant since January.

Cops escorted the men from the property and the couple changed the locks. Upon entering, they said they found signs of damage inside, including scuffed-up floors, scratches on the walls and a strong odour of marijuana throughout the home.

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