Eyewitness News investigations led to New York state law being changed to clarify that squatters are not tenants. But now there's a new issue. Prosecutors say people are forging documents to try to claim they have a legal right to be there as tenants.
As a real estate broker, Ejona Bardhi has experienced a lot of issues selling and renting homes in the New York City area but never anything like this before.
"Flabbergasted, I never in a million years expected that to happen," said Bardhi.
She says when she showed up to check on a home that she was showing to be rented in Jamaica Queens in March, she found the door locks changed and a stranger inside.
"I had an eerie feeling when I go there because everything was different, there was a strange man inside," she said.
She said she immediately called the police.
"And the first thing he says is - can I help you? I'm a tenant here, I've been a tenant here since January," said Bardhi.
But she says that couldn't be possible. She was last at the home three days prior and has cell phone video from that time showing the home was empty.
Prosecutors tell Eyewitness News the man handed police a lease he claimed to have signed months earlier.
"So I look at it and I realize my name is actually misspelled in the text, not only in the text but also in the signature," said Bardhi.
When she contested the lease with police, Bardhi said the man decided to leave on his own.
"I thought that was the end of it," she said.
It wasn't.
A few days later, 24-year-old Lance White-Hunt and another man took Bardhi and the homeowner to court, claiming he was illegally evicted.
"It's just showing they have no respect for the laws and feel so brazen that they can do whatever they want," said Bardhi.
That is, until Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz started investigating.
"It's very audacious and it's also just plain wrong," said Katz.
The District Attorney said the accused squatter forged not only a fake lease but fake utility bills to claim residency.
"You can't walk into a house that's not yours and claim you have a right to stay and then, by the way, sue the person that owns it," said Katz.
White-Hunt's civil suit was dismissed and the District Attorney charged him with crimes ranging from burglary to identity theft. He's now facing the possibility of 15 years in prison if convicted.
Outside court, both White-Hunt and his attorney declined to comment on the case. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
"I want to send a very clear message - that's not happening and in the City of New York it shouldn't be allowed to happen," Katz said.
As a real estate broker, Bardhi says she has dealt with squatters numerous times before.
"We've dealt with many squatter cases," said Bardhi. "Usually we discover them, we pay them something, and they get out," she explained. "This time they sued us."
She said they've paid squatters in the past because it costs less than hiring an attorney and taking them to court, which can often take two years for a resolution.
"Why does the burden fall on us to take them to housing court but not on them, it doesn't make any sense," Bardhi said. "These squatters need to be arrested and have real consequences and be made an example of," she said.
This is the second accused squatter the Queens District Attorney has filed charges against in the past few months.
Back in April, an accused squatter was arrested after he had a standoff with a homeowner in Flushing, Queens.
That standoff was captured by Eyewitness News cameras. The accused squatter has pleaded not guilty.
7 On Your Side put together a 30-minute special program on the growing squatting problem, what the new state law means, and what people can do to protect their properties.
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