Realities of Investing - Case Study - What Works, What Doesn't

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Never met so many friendly cops on a police call. Kudos to the Phoenix Police Dept.

The squatters never had a chance.

This one is unique for me in my 25 years of investing in real estate.

I went to my vacant property today to check on the house and an unknown Chevy Tahoe was parked in the driveway. I checked inside the car to see if anyone was sleeping or any dead bodies. None found. There was laundry drying on my tree limb. Weird.

The screen door was unlocked. That was odd thought I. and the keys didn’t fit the lock to the door. Hmm, brought the wrong keys. Went to the back door and it was wide open. Odd. The washer and dryer are missing. I don’t remember removing those.

Each bedroom had a bed and some clothes and artwork. There were tooth brushes and shave cream in each bathroom. At least they are sanitary, I thought. Hmmm, that’s not supposed to be there though. The whole house was supposed to be empty. Went to the kitchen and Keurig coffee was brewing. Groceries in the refrigerator and pantry. In the living room there was furniture and the TV was on with art work on the walls. Nice, I thought, but not my stuff.The master bedroom door was closed.

Yikes! I quickly exited and called the police and told them “someone is inside my house, still currently inside” (that part is KEY). The police come right away if the culprit is still inside. They don’t come if you tell them it’s empty. They just have you file a report for burglary.

As the police arrived, all 8 squad cars plus the K9 unit, and after a prolonged Police wait on the front porch, back porch and windows (waiting for the offending party to give himself up, with no responses) the place was searched and declared empty.

Here’s how it went down apparently: A fake Lease agreement for the period of Feb 6 2019 to Feb 5 2019, “signed” by “William Gilliuam” to “John Cantu” for $2500 deposit and $1200 a month was on the counter. Normally Leases don’t end the day before they are to start but this one did.

The address “William Gilliuam” gives as his contact address doesn’t exist. No “William Gilliuam” exists in Maricopa county property records. The “Lease” was for my property and I don’t know a “William Gilliuam” or “John Cantu”. During the investigation a car pulled into the driveway. Ahah, the culprits. Nope, turns out that “John Cantu” has rented the house out to them on AirBnB for $74 a night. Who the heck ARE all these people?

As 8 cops, the K9 unit, the AirBnBer’s and the neighbors were all standing around out front, “John Cantu” called the people he rented the house to on AirBnB and wanted to make sure everything went well so he could get paid. It went to voice mail. The AirBnB guy gave the phone to one of the cops who called “John Cantu” back and introduced himself. The cop told “John Cantu” that there was a big investigation about fraud and burglary and this and that and the other thing. “John” apologized for not being there but he has an Outstanding Warrant and well. . .you know he said… “if I show up that might be a problem”.

The cop assured him he understood. ;-)

So, the AirBnBer’s stuck around to identify “John Cantu” from the police mug shots and he is now being sought Again, by the P.D. One cop stuck around while the other 7 cops went to break up a brawl here and there, the K9 unit went to go sniff things, the neighbors went to dinner and I locked up and went home. All told that went from 2:30pm to 7:30pm

The officers were professional, friendly and always polite though determined to sort things out.

I’ve got to believe this happens in California, Ohio, Indiana, Florida, New York, Illinois, Maryland and everywhere else. I just haven’t had it happen to me before.

It’s simply a reminder to know who is in your properties and to call the police when needed.

What works: I called the police instead of confronting the squatter

What works: No police got hurt protecting my property.

What didn't work: The squatter. The fraud was pretty obvious and by addressing it in a cool handed way I got possession back instead of having to evict. That is a big deal, my friend!

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Originally posted by @Natalie Schanne:

@Mike M. - So what have you learned about vacant properties? How long was it empty? Were utilities on in your name? Some places turn off their breakers so people don’t think the power is on. Are you going to put in WiFi cameras now with auto alerts for movement?

In a town like mine, with evidence of a lease and paid security deposit and rent, the police would collect information but not evict the squatter until the courts could resolve the issue. There was an article about it recently where squatters kept switching vacant bank-owned houses so the paperwork to evict them by name was never correct. Several “Williams and Johns” ended up going to jail for fraud after months of collecting rent and security deposits. But I could imagine how a person using fake names could just keep moving areas committing the same crime everywhere. The average renter doesn’t check public records to see who owns the property.

@Lamont Marable @Natalie Schanne

I last was at the property about 10 days earlier. Nothing was unusual. 

The power had been turned off, they had the power turned on. I'll find out monday how they did that and in whose name. Same with water. Water was off. They got the water turned on. They even got cable hooked up. These guys are good.

What the police explained to me is that if they believe there is a possibility of the lease being valid it is a civil matter and it requires an eviction. That is what these guys planned. 

However, if there is reason to believe a "crime occurred" it becomes a criminal action and no eviction is required, they get hauled away if present (at least in Phoenix, other jurisdictions, who knows.)

Because it is an "ongoing criminal investigation" I can't give details yet of how I convinced the officers it was a crime and not a civil action. I learned this little gem from another experience awhile back that was much more benign. They don't teach you this things in school. It's on the job training.

Yeah, what was supposed to be a 30 minute routine visit was a 5 hour experience. That was not expected and not planned into my day.

Through this I learned to have proof that the property belonged to me readily available so that the police would take action and the fake lease wouldn't be a plausible piece of proof for the bad guys. In my case I went online to the county records and called up the Warranty Deed to show the police. You could also print off the Warranty Deeds of your properties and carry them in a binder in your car. I don't favor that approach but if you can't find the paperwork online it might be the best option.

Still more to say, but this post is getting long.