Posted on 07/06/2017 2:38:08 PM PDT by nickcarraway
A Cobb County woman is filled with frustration after she says strangers moved into the vacant house she was selling without her knowledge.
Getting them out is tougher than you might think.
Channel 2's Ross Cavitt talked to both sides of this problem and found out important information for homeowners.
Dena Everman couldn't believe it and can't believe the situation she is in.
After finding someone living in her home, and a broken window in the back, she assumed a quick call to the police would clear out the trespassers.
"I found out in the past week there is some archaic law that says if someone sets up residence in your home, it doesn't matter how they get in there they have rights until we evict them, Everman said.
She says the family found it listed for rent on Craigslist, they signed a lease by fax, paid their rent via money order, never saw the ad poster and only learned there was a problem when Everman called the police.
The next day she went to the courthouse where she says deputies told her she could stay.
"And they told us until these people come and forcibly evict us they can't force us out on our rights," Pritchett said.
Pritchett says the family is looking for another place to move, but admits for now they're staying.
"We're not just trying to stay in your home and hold you up on your sale. But at the same time, we just spent $3,000 -- that's not something we can just pull out and immediately move somewhere else, you know, Pritchett said.
Everman is mad, she may lose the pending sale on her house, and tells me her posts on her situation have generated anger.
"Outrage. Everybody doesn't understand why someone who has no legal right to be in my home can stay in my home and I'm the one who has to evict them, Everman said.
A lawyer who handles these cases told Cavitt that in real estate, possession really is nine-tenths of the law and the homeowner will have to go through the painful eviction process, which could take four to six weeks.
If the squatters really paid a scammer, why did they not ask for a key?
“Charity must be tempered by certain wisdom and knowledge of the relevant laws.”
I need to try to remember this. Our church is involved in a program where teens live with other families - they are usually from homes where the parents or siblings are bad influences and they just want out. My wife wants to do this. I’m not. “I already raised a bunch of teens!” And now to think that once we took one in we may not be able to get rid of them legally. (It wouldn’t be hard to trap a rat outside though and let them loose in the spare bedroom some night I suppose.)
My mom owned a small rental property years ago and some gal bailed on her. Didn’t pay a month or two of rent, and then just skipped town. Left all of their stuff there - I mean everything - maybe took her toothbrush. My mom couldn’t just throw out all of the stuff by law. She tracked down relatives and they didn’t know where she was.
My mom had to run a classified in the paper for awhile. Had to clean out all of the stuff and store it all for three months in case the gal showed up. I recall her going through the stuff and telling me “Well - they say I’m supposed to keep all of her stuff. Obviously the stacks of magazines are garbage. And the pile of dirty clothes- I’m not putting those away dirty, and I’m not washing them. And most of the towels are more like rags....”
that $3,00 might be first and last...
the first months rent and then the last for a deposit...
the article doesn’t say if there was a rental agreement...
here’s a thought though...
whether there was a Craigs listing can easily be checked...
who put the house as a rental on the list ???
I was thinking of that movie, too. I don’t think a lot of people commenting here realize how much trouble you could get in for forcibly evicting these people. And you definitely cannot go mess with their utilities or personal property. It’s crazy, but the law is almost completely on the side of the squatters.
Since there is no valid lease between the owner and the party to stay there I would think you could actually give a valid lease to someone and let them cohabitate say eight or ten bikers or possibly a lepper colony. Move them in. Let the squatter share their home .
It's WSB, Atlanta local news.
Any factual content that may be present in the story is pure luck.
And how would you get those people out?
Wasn’t me, I called in sick that day
Must have been gremlins
Prove it
I copied and pasted and then added the two commas to sort of correct it but yes, poor wording.
Happened to a deployed military family in Florida. Law couldn’t help them. A local “motorcycle club” made life difficult for the squatters. Family got thier house back the next day.
It’s not trespassing, it’s burglary.
You change the door locks, install alarm. Squatters break into house, police arrest and charge them for burglary.
Michael Keaton..
I just couldn’t think of the name of the movie...
That movie pulled out all the stops
:)
who put the house as a rental on the list ???
**************
Most likely a scam. Take a look at some of the articles about the scam.
https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?p=craig+list+fake+rentals&ei=UTF-8&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-004
Somewhere in Georgia or Florida or maybe the Carolinas, somewhere a gypsy wagon train is minus a wagon.
All they need is a copy of the lease at the power company, etc, and they can have their name put on the bill.
This has been going on for quite a while. Owners should get together and get the laws changed. Maybe a simple legal notice in the newspaper that the house is not for rent but for sale would be enough for the court?
Yeah right? That’s like “A stranger whom you’ve never met’’.
Not a liberal state. Florida.
We had some hippie types
move into a shack in a
remote area outside of
the town where we resided.
Me and the brother-in-law
made a trip to the property
after I started receiving
electric bills from that
property we knew to be vacant.
With pistols visible, and a
5 minute conversation, the
interlopers were packing
their 1960’s suburban
and headed for destinations
unknown. We didn’t threaten
in any way, but intimidation
worked.
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