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Updated over 5 years ago, 04/16/2019
The Occupants from Hell!
I am currently dealing with some occupants (who are no more than squatters) and getting them out so I can get in and start the rehab has been a daunting process. Typically, I get them out with cash for keys and it is never easy, but usually effective.
In this case, I purchased the property (practically stole it on price and terms)Feb 28th of this year and am still working on getting these morons out. I offered them $6k! for keys and they did not take it. I started eviction and they have used every tactic in the book to cause delays and extend the process. On the final hour before the summary judgement hearing, one of the two occupants filed for BK causing another 45 day or so delay. Unfortunately in CA, the laws, for some stupid reason, reside with occupants and not the legal owners. (I wont even get started on politics here!)
The good news is that I was able to have summary judgement against one of the occupants and already filed for the Sherriff to remove her from the premises. Should be within the next week or so for that. The kicker is that once it happens, her boyfriend still has rights to be there (until he is finally evicted) so I am quite sure she will just come right back. When that happens, I will make damn sure I make their lives as miserable as possible for the problems they have caused me. How can I do that legally you might ask? I will have periodic visits to the property and when I see she is there, I will call the Sherriff and inform them that she is illegally trespassing on my property and I want her removed/arrested. I will do this as many times as it takes until they get the point or until summary judgement against him occurs. Either way, screw them both!!! :roll:
What comes around goes around and theirs is coming.
***Update as of today 1-31-16: 5 years and 32 thread pages later, this is still ongoing. The following link was created by a BP Member in support of my situation found on page 32 of this thread. https://www.gofundme.com/OccupantsfromHell
This was approved by the heads of BP to be live in this thread. ***
Will, I thought you had an eviction against her that if she stepped on the property, she was trespassing. Did that decision get reversed in a different/higher court? Did the prior court ruling not establish your ownership?
@ Kevin - Yes, that decision was reversed due to her boyfriends success of getting the judge to agree with his potential claim to title, so the eviction and award is now null.
@ Sarah - I wish that could be the case, unfortunately, that would not be legal here and more so, due to the claim to title and (up to now) success of the occupant, I would then be in trouble with the law and not just financially.
Will, when you purchased the property, were you given clean title? Purchase title insurance?
Yes, deal was closed through escrow and with Title Insurance. I am pursuing the title insurance line now, hopefully, out of the many exclusions, this situation is not one that is excluded.
This is about the most insane squatter story I have read. There is another similar story about a guy in New York that was just about as bad.
Some people literally make playing the legal game their job in an effort live for free at the expense of others.
The sad thing is that if they spent that effort being productive to society rather then being destructive - this entire thread wouldn't even exist.
Will, after rereading your original message, you have now "owned" this property for one year. Any luck in removing the squatters?
Any luck with a claim on the title insurance or the title company?
Any other recourse?
Who is paying the taxes? Insurance? HOA/condo fees, if any?
At what point will you give up completely?
Great questions Kevin. As to giving up, that is not in my vocabulary so the answer to that is NEVER!
I have been paying the mortgage, taxes, insurance thus far and yes, I have owned this for one full year as of yesterday.
I have a court case upcoming in the next two weeks and I fully expect to win it. At that point, I will then have the stay lifted and can proceed with Sherriff eviction. After that, I can have the occupancy finally!!!!
What could have been a great deal has turned into a nightmare, and at best, I will only make around $25k or so after all is said and done. However, with that all said and done, I now have one more nasty experience under my belt and my experience has grown that much more. I will be able to get out of this deal unscaved at minimum.
I will provide updates now as they happen.
On a side note, not one single attorney or investor has ever heard of a situation such as this, it is kind of a one in a million happenstance. (too bad for me) I have been through an initial notice of stay, bankruptcy court notice of stay, and family court notice of stay (divorce court - and the dude was never legally married to the seller!)
Thanks Will
So these squatters claimed that he was married to the prior owner ... the person who sold it to you?
... and one of the squatters tactics was to file for divorce? How does that work?
Never mind
Can you still pursue the seller and the title company who were suppose to provide you with clean title?
I am happy for you that you see the light at the end of the tunnel.
You should start a new thread "Lessons Learned" once this is completely over.
Originally posted by Kevin Yeats:
So these squatters claimed that he was married to the prior owner ... the person who sold it to you?
Yes, this guy has used every tactic in the book to stay for free and squat. Through the initial notice of stay, on to the BK filing which gave him another notice of stay, and then on to the divorce filing which gives him yet another notice of stay and has taken over 6 months to get into court on as I am an innocent bystander to such proceedings and was not a party to the case, I had to have my attorney work to get me added to the case just so I can make things happen. The squatter and his idiot attorney have likely, purposely not served or moved forward with the family court as that would expidite the time he would have to leave.
I guess I don't understand how he can claim that he was/is married to the seller and then file for divorce from the second woman.
Don't explain ... it will only give me a headache.
I really don't know how you or any investor/buyer could have protected himself/herself from this situation.
At least you will make a profit ... except for your time and frustration.
Kevin Yeats - That is what Advil is for! :)
He is claiming he is married to the seller (even though they were never legally married) and filing for divorce from the seller (even though they were never married). How can he do that? You can do anything in court here in CA, he will not win, but he did win time and cost me money. If it were up to me, the laws would be changed to protect the innocent, which are often NOT the occupants, and this guy would be strung up in the public square by the officials.
You are also correct in that there was no way possible for me to forsee such an occurance or to prevent it, it is just one of those very unlucky things.
Will, is this finally over? Is this couple occupying a cardboard box someplace?
Hoipefully you ended up getting them out. Sounds like they are skilled at this... =(
Like I stated above, I have yet to get them out up to this point.
These guys should be put in jail for contempt.
Yikes! Just read through this whole thread from the beginning. Lesson learned...I'll tighten up my contract with renters and improve my screening process to try and catch anyone who has been in court before.
However, you can't keep it from happening to you the first time people decide to do this.
Good luck Will!
- Realtor, General Contractor, and Developer
- Redding, CA & Bend OR
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Unfortunately, California has "squatters rights" that supercede owners! Turning off utilities is illegal. When you served them, did you put Does 1-99, or just list the people specifically? Did you use a lawyer or do it yourself? You need a lawyer. These situations can escalate into dangerous problems, so use caution. I've heard of people that just decided they'd move in their house, went in and told the tenants they were new roommates. They called the cops who told them it was a "civil matter" and they'd have to take the landlord to court. It worked. The tenants moved out! But, that would be very risky and I definitely would never recommend it, but it goes to the heart of how ridiculous some of these cases get! Good luck!
- Karen Margrave
I just read through this thread :) Have you considered filing an ethics complaint with the state bar on the lawyer representing the squatters? It sounds like it is possible he is guilty of misrepresentation on some of the legal filings. Proving that he knew that his client was never married might be difficult, but if you could, it would certainly be filing a known false statement with the court.
Just so that everyone has the correct facts, these are not and have never been tenants. The occupant is a previous boyfrined of the seller who claims he and she were/are married, even though no legal documents exist of such marriage.
Regardless, this is now in family court where they take forever, are very liberal and loose, and judges shy away from making a permanent decision one way or the other in a case such as this, which is very uncommon. The problem is that the occupant has made a cli9am to title of the property stating that the seller had no right to sell to me without his consent and title is clouded at the moment. This has been the problem since I received my relief from stay in bankruptcy court. I am now in my thrid court process and this one has gone on for over 8 months.
Karen M. - Of course I have a lawyer, I have been represented by one since day one on this matter, this is not my first major league at bat.
Originally posted by Joe Delia:
Will, hope you can get these lowlifes out as soon as possible. How are these bums able to afford a lawyer who will do all this for them?
What a story. It aught to be on "Sixty Minutes" to demostrate a need to change the laws. But media coverage would likely just educate a new rash of squatters.