'Where are our rights?' Family kicked out by alleged squatter sues to come home in East New York
Steven Colon and Jasmine Rosario say they agreed to let Kaila Ortiz stay in their unit for a short time, but now claim she refuses to leave and has threatened them and their landlord.
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A dispute over a guest who overstayed her welcome has turned into a legal showdown in East New York, where two tenants and a landlord say a woman has been squatting in their apartment for months without paying rent.
Steven Colon and Jasmine Rosario say they agreed to let Kaila Ortiz stay in their unit for a short time, but now claim she refuses to leave and has threatened them and their landlord.
Colon says he hasn’t been home since mid-January but continues to pay rent.
“There’s got to be some type of justice for people like us who pay rent, who live there, who have leases and rights. What happened to our rights?” Rosario said.
Landlord Bailey Lockhardt says he asked Ortiz to leave in May, but instead received threats in person and by voicemail. He’s now filed a harassment complaint and has begun the eviction process.
“I’m hoping the outcome is they will tell her if you’re not a tenant, if you’re not paying rent, please leave the apartment,” Lockhardt said.
Ortiz, when reached by News 12, claimed she had a verbal agreement to pay rent to Colon and Rosario but couldn’t provide proof of payment or a lease. She said she welcomes eviction proceedings.
“If you are legally labeling me a squatter, so be it. At the end of the day, I have rights,” she said. “I’ve been asking for an eviction for months to get a case number so I can get a voucher and move. It’s all been on them.”
But Colon says what she did is not right and believes they should not have to go to court to get back access to his unit.
"What kind of person does this, and how is it my rent, is not enough, you know, to come home," he said.
The case is now headed to Kings County Civil Court, with a hearing scheduled for June 25.
