A convicted pervert facing an attempted murder charge can add “illegal landlord” to his rap sheet, according to a pair of fed-up Brooklyn homeowners who say the violent career criminal took over their investment properties and filled them with squatters.
Mohammed Choudhary and Boysin Lorick have been forced to deal with the city’s backlogged Housing Court to oust those living in the crumbling trio of Neptune Avenue homes, despite being threatened and assaulted by the occupants and repeated calls to the NYPD, according to a lawsuit.
Meanwhile, they could face more than $370,000 in fines from the city Buildings Department for illegal occupancy and other violations, records show.
“It’s a big mess and it’s a very dangerous situation,” a frustrated Choudhary told The Post.
The pair, who make up 35 NEP LLC, bought 3506, 3508, and 3514 Neptune Ave. in May 2019 for $1.3 million as an investment, they said.
At the time, Peter Fonseca, 45, was living in the garage behind 3508 and refusing to leave, the landlords said in court papers.
Fonseca was arrested in October 2019 for sexual abuse of a minor, court records show. The arrest enabled the landlords to lock up the homes.
Then COVID-19 shutdowns had the owners stranded out of town for months in 2020 and left the homes vulnerable.
When the owners returned in September 2020, they found Fonseca back — along with several strangers who claimed Fonseca was their landlord.
“You have no business here. These buildings belong to us now,” Fonseca allegedly told Lorick, according to the litigation.
Choudhary, 70, and Lorick, 75, charge Fonseca and his “tenants” have threatened and assaulted them. There have been six arrests, including for domestic assault and drug possession, in or in front of 3508 between May 2019 and Nov. 3, and nearly 150 calls to 911 regarding 3508 and 3514 Neptune for the same time period, police said.
The NYPD has declined to clear the squatters, referring Choudhary and Lorick to civil court after Fonseca claimed to have been living there for months.
Meanwhile, the Buildings Department slapped the real landlords with $37,000 in penalties, and they face a possible additional $370,000 charge.
“Now we can’t do anything and we tried to go to DOB to explain to them and they said it’s not their problem,” Lorick claimed.
An occupant of one of the garbage-strewn homes declined to comment Thursday.
On Nov. 1, a Brooklyn Housing Court judge finally sided with Choudhary and Lorick, agreeing that Fonseca should be booted later this month.
The pair are now suing the city in Brooklyn Supreme Court, seeking a court order to get the violations paused and for either the NYPD or DOB agents to accompany them while they try to access the homes.
“This lawsuit is a plea for help to the very city agencies who unjustly and unfairly continue to fine a landlord who has done everything possible to get access to its own premises for purposes of curing violations they didn’t even cause,” said attorney Natraj Bhushan, who reps the landlords.
Owners have a “legal responsibility” to keep their properties safe, said a Buildings Department spokesman, who noted 35 NEP LLC will have a chance to argue its case at upcoming appearances in front of OATH, or the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings.
“The owners of these properties will be able to present a defense at the upcoming violation hearings, which will be considered by a court hearing officer when adjudicating the violations. DOB has not yet been served with this lawsuit. We will review the suit, once we have been served,” the spokesman said.
Fonseca has been in and out of state prison since 1997 on charges like car theft, assault, and attempted robbery. In June, Fonseca was convicted and sentenced to a year in jail in the sexual abuse case, in which he allegedly twice molested a girl under 17.
In September, he was indicted for attempted murder for allegedly acting as the getaway driver in March for another man, Anthony Johnson, who opened fire on a rival in Brooklyn and missed. Fonseca, who pleaded not guilty, is being held on $300,000 cash bail, a $500,000 bond. A criminal attorney for Fonseca said he was unaware of the squatter allegations, and declined comment.
https://nypost.com/2022/11/05/nyc-homeowners-cant-get-rid-of-perv-facing-attempted-murder-charge/
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