Posted on 03/07/2025 9:06:21 AM PST by Red Badger
The housing market is still utterly insane right now. So it's doubtlessly a relief when a prospective homeowner finds and buys their dream home.
Unless, of course, they're told that they, uhh, can't live in it:
The nightmare started last fall when [Meghan] McIntyre and her boyfriend decided to move back to Plymouth and purchase their own home. Months later, instead of moving into the house they bought, they are forced to rent an apartment while also paying the mortgage on a home they aren't allowed to live in. Instead, someone else is living in the house.
Finding out someone else is living in the house you just bought:
"It's like a never-ending nightmare," McIntyre said of her attempt to move back home to Plymouth.
It turns out that Ms. McIntyre purchased a foreclosed property. She was under the impression that it was vacant and move-in ready. But shortly before moving in, they got a call from a former occupant of the house — someone who was "never an owner," "never a tenant" and "never paid rent," yet who had lived there to care for her mother and who wanted to move back in after her mother's death.
Rather understandably, Meghan said no. And that's where the nightmare really began:
'The next day we got a call from the housing court that we had a court date,' she said.
The judge ruled that McIntyre had to give the woman the keys and allow her to stay at the house.
Raw footage of a judge forcing a woman to surrender her house to some random lady who wants to live there:
Real estate attorney Jordana Greenman said the scenario is "horrifying," but she said state law explicitly allows for someone's home to essentially be seized and used in this way:
'It is another one of those things that in Massachusetts with all of the consumer protection rules, nobody can be unhoused per se, without a court order,' Greenman explained. 'It might boil down to how much are they willing to pay to get this person out. And then they'll go, which is really very upsetting. It should not be so difficult.'
But folks, it goes beyond "difficult." The state is being outright capricious and spiteful in dealing with this situation.
A court has ordered McIntyre to "pay for a whole list of expenses" prior to starting eviction:
McIntyre said they had to pay to restore the floors after they ripped up the carpet to replace them. McIntyre is paying the utility bills and even had to put the woman up in a hotel and pay for her meals when the heat stopped working in the home.
McIntyre said this is on top of her paying for the mortgage, HOA fees and rent. She estimated they are paying around $10,000 a month just in housing.
Thankfully, there's some end in sight. The rightful homeowner and her squatter tenant reached an agreement:
Under the deal, the woman gets to stay until the end of March and McIntyre has to pay her $7,500 to put towards a new apartment.
Please remind me to never, ever buy a home in Massachusetts.
I was responding to the poster who posted about squatter’s rights in California. Not about the Mass. situation.
We know there are cases in many states where homebuyers sue the sellers for all kinds of defects that are not discovered until after the closing.
“I was responding to the poster who posted about squatter’s rights in California. Not about the Mass. situation.”
And you incorrectly responded referencing ownership to a post referring to possession.
I heard, that the proper way to get you own home back, is to squatter in it!
Just move in and squatter alongside the other squatter.
That would get you the same protections.
I am not sure, how exactly it works, but apparently, it works.
It’s MA.
They’ll side with the worst possible outcome for an average law abiding citizen.
I can’t see why anyone would want to live in that state any more.
I survived buying a couple of houses in Massachusetts, including one where this exact scenario could have happened.
In 1983, a young couple moved to Israel with their kids, sold their house to me, and left their senile incontinent father behind in what was originally his home.
What I did that the people in your story didn’t do was to hire my own closing attorney - you know, the one the bank tells you you don’t need?
The sellers over in the Holy Land got the word that until Dad was re-housed there would be no closing and no money.
He was out of there like on the Concorde!
Lesson is: when you are a party to any transaction where another party tells you, “oh, you don’t need a lawyer” - hire one immediately.
There had been a prior tenant. The daughter of that tenant (or maybe owner) had also lived there to care for her mom. Which made her a tenant as well. The mom died and (as far as I can glean from the article) the daughter moved out. At some point the daughter decided she wanted to return to the house and live there. I am not sure about Mass. law but her vacating the property does not appear to have ended her tenancy. Maybe because the lease her mom had (if there was one) was still valid. Maybe because the housing law considers the tenancy active even if there is a gap in occupancy. I don’t know. But I do know there seems to be no reason why an eviction should not have gone through.
No I didn’t. I just am not sure if the mom who died owned the house or if she was a tenant. In any case her daughter would be considered a tenant. Which would mean that in order to deny her occupancy the owner of the property would have to file an eviction notice. That should have been a simple matter.
SSS
who?
this stuff is as insane as my solution to the problem.
No lease, No legal documents, no nothing. just “I want to live here”
Someone slip in to the judges house while they are gone. see how well that squat goes.
but then you have the smell.
The daughter of the woman who died would also be considered a tenant because she had lived there to care for her mom.
true foreclosure sales rarely if ever have insepctions. Normally you can only do a walk around the outside. If you can’t see anything though the windows you bid blind.
Years ago, I acquired a charming Tudor-style residence nestled in the picturesque landscape of Long Island. The previous homeowner, a stern and unyielding businessman who ran his own remodeling company, embodied the ironic saying about cobblers and their own footwear. Following the real estate transaction’s completion, he and his elegantly adorned wife swiftly departed, leaving us to settle into our newly acquired property.
Upon moving in, we made a remarkable discovery within the garage: an extensive collection of both vintage and contemporary European marble tiles. A short time after our arrival, the previous owner unexpectedly returned, ardently requesting the return of what he considered his valuable inventory. Ultimately, the unexpected tile collection became a significant asset, substantially enhancing our home’s aesthetic appeal and market value, as we strategically incorporated these exquisite marble tiles throughout every room of the house.
So glad I moved from Massachusetts to Georgia. Damn libtards!
and the occupent who was not on the lease moved out..
why this judge let them back in to the house is beyond me.
“true foreclosure sales rarely if ever have inspections.”
Yikes.
That is a screaming red flag—would not touch that.
When we bought our house decades ago it had a bit of age on it.
The inspection report was five pages long and cited almost one hundred separate items.
We then got contractor estimates in all the relevant trades—so we knew what we were dealing with...
I do an extremely thorough search of the history of every property I purchase. I go to the courthouse, the tax office, the online records -- and I have good long talks with the neighbors, too. I talk to the local plumbers who have serviced the house, the exterminators, the electricians and the roofers who are familiar with it. People love to talk! I also explore thoroughly: any traps in there? if so, are they mouse traps or rat traps? any flea bombs lying around? any critter holes, or coon tracks, or squirrel stashes, or droppings, or chewed wires? Because I don't trust bankers, lawyers, realtors, sellers, etc. And all the houses have problems or I wouldn't be interested. (The only deal killer for me is -- tenants.)
It's usually not a lot of money I'm spending, though it's always cash; but the time I put into it, and the re$ale profit$ later -- that's kind of important. :)
So does a 12 gauge shotgun.
You are reminding me of one of our appraisers in commercial lending.
He would go to the nearest bar to the site and start asking questions of anyone who would answer about the history of the site.
It is amazing what he could find that was not on any written records.
and our home inspector missed the broken pane of glass right next to the front door..
it was a complete waste of money.
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