Serial squatters: Couple has lived rent-free for years, despite being evicted from more than 8 homes

An ABC10 Originals investigation found California's broken eviction system enables people to live rent-free for months at the homeowner's expense.

[gustav--]

If you rent a car for the weekend and try to keep it for a month and refuse to pay additional fees, you can be charged with a felony. Residential space shouldn't be any different.

[madbug]

Send them a $200 gift card to Hometown Buffet from a bogus business. When they all go out to eat, change the locks, and toss their stuff on to the street. 😂

[constancewashington]

There needs to be a law to send squatters to jail and have them pay restitution for all the damage. I am shocked that there isn't already a law for this to happen.

[cinemabunny]

A land owner made himself a legal tenant of his late mother's house that had squatters. He moved in and changed the locks. The squatters called the police but he produced the lease thereby giving him renters rights. He scheduled a time for the squatters to get their possessions but he had his guys move the items to the curb. No setting foot on the property.

[PorkChop]

There needs to be an online register for known squatters.

[KK-pmud]

If this stuff was falsified, then it should be immediate cause for eviction and the start to a fraud case for prosecution.

[t.]

For everyone’s sake, people need to start taking pictures of the squatters. Start passing their picture around to family members, friends and so on. Keep it going all on social media

[davidmembril]

A registry should be compiled and put on line with known squatters so that home owners can look up information on potential renters.
.complete with photos

[ChillHodge]

This happens all over the US. Needs to be a felony

[Omoroseangel]

Laws must be changed in order for people to be held responsible. Unbelievable.

[emmaswartz]

My husband is a property manager, he was checking out a potential tenant. Everything looked great on paper. He decided to look up the owner of the house the prospective tenants were currently living in. It didn't match the landlord's name these people put down. He found the real landlords, called them and the tenants were 6 months behind on rent. Be careful of tenants looking for a place right away, they're probably being evicted. Good tenants look for a place 2-3 months in advance. Be careful of someone who's too perfect on paper. Ask why they're moving? Do due diligence.

[angelNoll]

I don't understand why they can't simply get kicked out, and charged for FRAUD and falsified documents at the very LEAST. Bruh. Are they not able to get in trouble for that?

[FallacyDeCuir]

How is this not TRESPASSING?!!??! I don't understand! Trespassing, vandalism, destruction of property, mental anguish.... They should be in prison, and forced to pay restitution if they ever get out! It's like the victims have no rights at all. Unbelievable.

[dylanmoris]

Pensioners grappling with the difficulty of meeting essential expenses often encounter this situation due to inadequate savings during their working years. The decisions taken in readiness for retirement carry extensive consequences, as demonstrated within my own family dynamics. Differing investment approaches yielded disparate results. Guided by a financial advisor.

[catblackman]

I heard a landlord in court say he rather go to jail for dragging tenants out than have them live rent free for years.

[sandriagutierrez]

Squatters share two things in common: they are destructive, and unclean. Every place they leave, is left a costly mess! Just like their lives.

[hammersampson]

Everyone I know who’ve rented their home out has told me a horror story like this. Yet…they still rent out their home. Best place I’ve heard for being a landlord is Nevada. The Sheriff will actually throw out the tenants for you.

[pamelawing]

My brother was a police officer in Marin County for 30 years, and he was very familiar with serial squatters. He would talk about one family who had never paid a dime of rent for years. It's incredible.

There has to be an equitable way to handle this and the laws needs to be changed. A lot of owners are just trying to get a retirement income from a couple of houses. Covid was really a blow to them. On the other side, there have been tenants that have rented long term and suddenly get a notice that their rent is going from 1500.00 per month to 3500.00 per month. It has happened across the country. Florida has been a huge participant in those kinds of increases. You don't pay, you're out. It has contributed to the homeless situation of families.

So, whose the villain? It depends. In this case Mario and his people are certainly jerks. I wonder how some of this behavior doesn't get on his credit report. Maybe it's illegal and is considering slandering him? There has to be a way to make laws that are sensible and protect the owner and the tenant.

[mssmiles]

How do you rent out a house for over 30 years and not have the mortgage paid off?

[gagejernigan]

How is it not trespassing? There shouldn’t be another term for this. Squatter is sugarcoating it. They are criminals, trespassers, and thieves.