Shameless squatters suing NY woman and her realtor for getting 'unfairly evicted' when THEY broke into apartment FINALLY surrender court fight (but WON'T be charged or forced to pay thousands to furious owners!)

The shameless squatters who sued a New York woman and her realtor for getting 'unfairly evicted' after they broke into the home finally surrender their weeks-long court battle.

On Friday, homeowner Juliya F., appeared with her realtor Ejona Bardhi, and attorney Rizpah Morrow at Queens court to face off with Rondie L. Harris and Lance Hunt, Jr., the brazen squatters, who were scheduled to testify, but were a no-show.

Last month, the men had set up mattresses, a flat screen TV and a massage table inside the $530,000 home that they claimed to have legally leased months earlier and refused to leave.

Hours before the scheduled hearing, their attorney David Harris filed an e-letter informing the court that his petitioners wanted to discontinue the proceeding and just wanted to get their belongings returned. 

Judge Vijay M. Kitson dismissed the case with prejudice - meaning the squatters cannot come back and sue them for illegal lockout or an unlawful conviction-  and said have no right to possession of property.

He told the attorney's they would have make their own arrangements in getting the squatters belongings back to them, and said that he has no jurisdiction on the matter.

Though Juliya is now able to move her two new tenants into the property, she remains disheartened. 

In an interview with DailyMail.com she explained that she did not feel like the issue was resolved, and was distressed that they faced no consequences for breaking into her home.

'The judge did all that he could although the criminals got away with this without even a slap on the wrist,' she said. 

'They committed a crime. They got away with it. I had to incur financial, emotional, and psychological stress with this case.'

Morrow expressed that she would have preferred if there was 'a bit more court intervention', saying: 'The judge just let them discontinue the case - without any terms or conditions - he let them discontinue with prejudice and he is reserving their right to their stuff.'

She added: 'We felt that we had a really good case, in terms of they're not doing a lockout and that they had no rights to be restored to possession, and it seems like a real abuse of this court process when there are so many tenants out there who need the court intervention.'

Bardhi, who works with Top Nest Properties, and had been working diligently to have her clients tenants move-in before they were dragged to court by the squatters, was disappointed that they faced zero repercussions.

'They dropped all of it and continue like this never happened,' Bardhi said, 'they didn't want to admit to anything and withdrew their claims.

'At the same time the seller doesn't get anything for damages, and stills has to eat that one month of rent they lost out on and the legal fees that no one is reimbursing for.'

Based on the agreement with the judge, the woman agreed that in order for the squatters to get their belongings back they would need to give them an itemized list to prevent any further legal issues from happening.

 'We are now taking the position that we don't know what items they want returned. This leaves us open to another lawsuit because they can say we kept some of their items,' she said.

The squatters had set up mattresses, a flat screen TV and a massage table in the home. Juliya put those items in her garage, as well as chair, a lamp, pictures, even cleaning supplies -a broom and a mop -the squatters had brought.

Despite the squatters wanting their items back, Juliya and Bardhi said they want to make sure that their conditions are met, as well.

'We are requesting that they send an itemized list of what was there, who entered the property, how did those items get there, and to provide ID for whoever is coming to pick up these supposed belongings they left behind.'

Bardhi added: 'I don't know if the attorney's will come to a resolution as it pertains to belongings. We still have no clarity on exactly what happened here. In the eyes of the court they didn't come forth and admit to anything.

'They basically withdrew their claims. We answered their claims. We came prepared for a trial than they withdrew their claims without clarification.'

Juliya said: 'These two men broke into my house and they claim to have property there. I would like to know how did they get into the property?'

She said lawmakers need to have laws in order to protect people and its citizens. 

'We need to advocate for ourselves and honest homeowners, and not allow the squatters to take over.'

David Harris, who was representing the squatters in the case told DailyMail.com during the March 22 court appearance that his clients believed that they may have been scammed.

But, Morrow said Friday after the hearing, that if the squatters believed they were scammed then why would they not want to investigate and see who scammed them.

She added: 'Apparently their case was not very good. Their evidence was not very good.'

'They said that they have been there from the first of January. We have the broker who has been handling the rental of the property, who went there on several occasions in February, and had a section 8 inspection. We have videos with the date. These guys were not there on the first of January.'

On Friday, Juliya and Bardhi did not learn that the squatters would not appear in court until the final hour.

'We showed up to court twice. They left the last time and they didn't show up today,' Juliya said.

She added: 'They were not scammed. We were scammed. We had to show up to court two times, and now I have to incur legal fees.' 

An emergency lockout hearing was held on Friday March 22 at Queens County Civil Court after the squatters attorney, David Harris served the homeowner, and the realtor.

During the proceeding, Morrow asked the judge for a trial on the grounds that the two men acted in an unlawful manner. 'They perpetrated a fraud,' Morrow told the judge.

The judge told her that she is entitled to a trial, and said: 'Let them come to court and testify.' 

When the judge asked their attorney where his clients were, Harris said one of them 'had to go to work'. 

At this point Bardhi, who was representing the homeowners in court, intervened and told the judge, 'he left because he did not want to get arrested'.   

The judge instructed Harris to get a hold of his clients to resume the proceeding later that day, but his clients never showed and he had to leave for a family emergency and the case was rescheduled for April 5.

The judge told them their tenants could move in before the next court date, but warned them it may complicate the case. 

After the hearing was adjourned and the chambers doors were closed, Lance Hunt, Sr., the father of the second alleged squatter Lance Hunt, Jr., who told DailyMail.com his name was Michael, walked into the court house. 

He tried to enter the judge's chambers but the court officers told him the session had ended for the day. 

On Friday morning, hours before the squatters were scheduled to testify, their attorney filed in e-letter to the court stating that 'the petitioners have authorized him to discontinue the proceeding'. 

In the letter, Harris wrote that 'they no longer desire to be restored to the premises but would like to make an arrangement to retrieve the property.' 

When Bardhi went to the property on March 1st to get it ready for the new tenants, she noticed one of the locks had been changed on the doors. At first she assumed it may have been done by the former management company, until they told her they did not touch the locks,

When she went back to home on March 4, she noticed the other set of door locks had also been changed, and then saw a dark figure in the window.

'I saw a man wearing a black hoodie holding a drill in his hand,' Bardhi recalled.

Alarmed she called police and the homeowners and waited in her car for officers to arrive. While she waited, she noticed more men emerge. She said they started circling her car that was parked in front of the Lakewood Avenue property.

‘They were trying to intimidate me,' she said. 'It was bizarre.'

When police arrived the men told them it was their property and they had been living there since January. Bardhi disputed their claims and said she was just at the home a day prior with a housing inspector.

When officers asked the men for proof of residency, they did not have anything to show, but told the cops they were YouTubers, and left peacefully.

Once they were out, Bardhi and the homeowner were going to place new locks on the door, but the officers told them if they do they will get arrested. 

Bardhi who was surprised by their response told DailyMail.com: 'The police tells us that they have rights that was the ridiculous part.'

She said she was told by police that what was happening to her clients is a 'common scam' that is taking place all over the borough. They told her there is nothing they could do, and that she must take it up in housing court.

The next day the men returned. 

Bardhi along with the homeowners called police again. This time, they showed police a lease with Bardhi's name and signature on it. 

'The initial lease they showed me when I first discovered them in the apartment is different from the second forged lease that they provided to the court,' she said.

'On the first lease they had my name misspelled not only on the text, but in the actual signature, as if I would accidentally misspell my own name. Unbelievable,'  she told DailyMail.com.

When the homeowner learned they were being sued by the people who allegedly broke into their home they were shocked, and had to scramble to hire an attorney for the emergency hearing.

Juliya was told that if she does not show up in court, the strangers would have the right to occupy her home.

Bardhi, who sells and rents properties all over the tri-state area, said 'this is the first time she has been in a situation where the squatters have sued'. 

'I don’t think they expected me to check on the property so often, but it’s essential, you have to be diligent when it comes to vacant homes on the market. As the broker you are responsible for that home for the duration of the listing period.'

She said that in previous incidents, the broker and real estate company have handled it, but this time it was different.

'The guys are trained and coached. It is is something they've done before. It's a scam and it's insane,' she said. 

'The system is what failed us and that is why we are now in court having to pay attorney fees just to deal with these squatters. Enough is enough, it's time for the homeowners to fight back.'

She said the day they appeared in court, the men brought so many people with them, no one could be identified.

Bardhi added: 'To this day they refuse to show IDs making it nearly impossible to match a name to the face.'

Harris, the attorney representing the squatters, told DailyMail.com that his clients signed a lease and made a payment and have been there since early January.

He said: 'They showed me a rental application, a lease, text messages and correspondence. They showed me enough for me to believe they were living there. 

'Is it possible that this is a big scam? Certainly anything is possible, but I don't believe it. If there is a scam they may have been scammed by someone else pretending to be the landlord. 

'I don't think my guys orchestrated this scam at a minimum they believe they have a right.'

He added: 'Either somebody scammed my clients and rented them a house that they did not have the right to rent to them. Or, the owner gave Top Nest the authority to do it and they did it,' he said, in part.

Harris said on two occasions, they showed the police enough credentials and they were not removed or asked to leave.  The the third time officers came with the one of the homeowners, and that is when the police reportedly threatened to arrest them.

'I don't believe they did anything wrong. I don't believe they had any ill intent and whoever they rented from they did it on the up and up,' he said, in part.

The man, whose name according to Harris was Lance Hunt, Sr., though he told DailyMail.com that he went by Michael, claimed that he was there to support his son, Lance Hunt, Jr., one of the squatters though it is unclear if he ever came to the courthouse.

Hunt Sr., told DailyMail.com that his son had rented an apartment for $6,000 for a few months. He said that people came to the home, and then his son was removed by police.

'There's no dispute against the people that came there, but the way they came there and just gave them no type of situation to even say anything, to do what they had to do the right way,' he said.

'They didn't show any proof of who they were they just had the police remove them from the residence.'

When asked if his 'son' went through a real estate broker, he said he was 'not at liberty to say right now.'

Juliya, a nurse and mother of two young children, said that she spent years working hard in order to purchase in an investment property and is heartbroken by what is taking place.

'I have been a nurse for nine years now. I've worked as labor delivery nurse, servicing the Brooklyn community. I've worked very hard. Then for the past five years, I've worked as a home care nurse, servicing New York, including Queens, Bronx, Manhattan, everywhere. 

'I saved up lots of money to be able to purchase a property, and this is what I now have to deal with? It's outrageous.

'It makes no sense that people think that they can just walk into the home thinking that they can live there while I'm paying a mortgage and they're not paying anything. It's actually a criminal activity.'

She said they went through section 8 housing to find their tenants as their way to contribute to the city's housing crisis. 

One of the tenants is a young mother, who is student, and her baby. Juliya said she is currently living in a shelter. 

The other tenant is a postal worker with five children, and one of those children is special needs.

The couple said they spent months renovating the home to make it pristine and were distressed after seeing what the squatters had done, including scuff marks on the light wood floors, scrapes on the walls, garbage scattered in their yard. They also said the house had an overpowering stench of marijuana.

Juliya's partner Denis told DailyMail.com told DailyMail.com had changed the home's circuit breakers, and had Spectrum come to the home.  

Bardhi alleged that they had also submitted forged mail as proof to the court.

'It is very clear when looking at their so-called evidence that everything was photoshopped. I have been at Lakewood for months, and I never saw any mail for anyone other than the homeowners,' she said.

Overall, she said the 'evidence' they showed was 'ridiculous' which included an UberEats receipt in an attempt to prove they lived at the residence on January 15th… which is hilarious because I held a public open house at Lakewood on Sunday January 21, and I also ordered food to the house.'

Juliya said she is still investigating the matter and said it 'will be determined' whether she will pursue further legal action.