NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A Queens man who squatted in a Jamaica home for months this year and took the homeowner to civil court with a forged lease pleaded guilty to related charges on Thursday, District Attorney Melinda Katz announced.
“Our first priority with squatters is to get trespassers out of the home,” Katz said. “This squatter’s actions were especially egregious as he brazenly took the legal homeowner to court as part of his bogus claim as a tenant.”
Lance White-Hunt, 24, pleaded guilty to first-degree identity theft, first-degree offering a false instrument for filing and tampering with physical evidence, prosecutors said.
According to the charges, the owner of a Jamaica home on Lakewood Avenue listed the property for rent through a broker at Top Nest Properties on or about Feb. 23.
For weeks the broker visited the property and observed that the house was vacant, all its windows closed and undamaged and two front doors locked, for which she had functioning keys.
On March 1, the broker made a scheduled stop at the home and found that the locks to the unit’s studio residence no longer worked. On March 4, prosecutors said that the locks had been changed on the front door leading to the upstairs unit, and the broker noticed White-Hunt inside.
When police were called to the home, White-Hunt claimed he had been in the residence since January, providing a purported lease that listed the broker and Top Nest Properties as landlords. Both the broker and owner of Top Nest Properties said they had never seen the document, and the signatures were forged.
Police returned on March 5, and White-Hunt provided a bill from National Grid and AT&T as “proof of residence,” but both companies later confirmed the account numbers were nonexistent.
On March 14, an emboldened White-Hunt filed a civil lawsuit against the homeowner’s LLC, the broker and Top Nest Properties for an illegal lockout. During the suit, prosecutors said that he filed a forged residential lease, which was different from the one he previously showed to officers.
The lawsuit was discontinued with prejudice, and a district attorney’s office investigation led to White-Hunt’s arrest on May 13, officials said.
White-Hunt is ordered to return to court on Nov. 6 and is expected to be sentenced to five years’ probation and 20 days of community service. He also must pay $3,900 in restitution.
“We have not only held the defendant accountable, but have also secured restitution for the victim who had to spend a hefty sum on legal fees and home repair because of the defendant’s actions,” Katz said. “My office is committed to protecting property owners from fraud, scams and criminal trespass in Queens.”
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