A pair of alleged squatters accused of unlawfully moving into a Queens duplex are suing its rightful owners after refusing to vacate the $930,000 home.
It’s the latest logic-defying chapter in the ongoing squatter saga in the borough, which in recent weeks has seen multiple homes occupied by unwelcome invaders who claim rights to the properties under New York City’s permissive laws.
“It’s absolutely absurd,” said the owner of the latest targeted home, Juliya Fulman — who so far has racked up more than $4,000 in legal bills fighting the suit — to The Post on Sunday.
“These people literally broke into my house. It’s not fair to us as homeowners that we are not protected by the city,” said the Jamaica property owner.
“You can’t really even blame them in a way because it’s handed to them on a silver platter,” Juliya’s husband, Denis Kurlyand, said in a phone call with The Post, calling the squatters “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 said.
“What did we do? Nothing. We put up a property for rent, and that’s it, now we’re dealing with a nightmare.”
The couple spent $530,000 renovating the Lakeside Avenue investment property and secured tenants for both rental units when their real estate broker, Ejona Bardhi, discovered March 5 that the locks on the property had been changed.
After determining the lock change was not authorized, Bardhi returned to the home and saw through the window a silhouette of a man wearing a hooded sweatshirt and holding a drill, the broker told the Daily Mail.
Hellbound and Down 