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

this home is being held hostage all right four nine one five squatters it's a name for occupants who don't pay rent and that's who's lived here for the last nine months and they know what they're doing professional deadbeat tennis they've learned to play the game well it was our first house you know we got married there we had our wedding reception there then as our family grew we needed a larger Place rather than sell Karen and Skip morarity have been renting their Fair Oaks home to several tenants for the last 34 years we made it into an investment but we planned to downsize and go back there but before moving back they decided to lease it one final time this Craigslist is cheap free when a couple named Ann and Mario Figueroa reached out they met for a house tour had a nice long conversation you know wonderful people to seal the deal Karen requested documents including a credit report and 401K statement he has 20 times as much as I have in my 401K with that Karen and Skip handed over the keys in August 2022 immediately there were problems in September they were late we deeply apologize Mario's grandfather passed last week and we had to contribute when the next month came then his mother as December rolled around Mario's father was sick that's when they stopped paying all together without rent Skip and Karen had to cover the mortgage I'm holding off buying Christmas presents ten days before Christmas Karen drove by it looked like they were having a party she could not handle that she was melting down desperate for help they reached out to their real estate agent I've had hours of conversations with Karen frustrated upset crying Gary Meek is familiar with squatters but some he says are experts unfortunately there are criminals out there that use amazing talent and education for bad he asked to see the documents Mario and Anne provided when moving in and made a discovery they've all been falsified the bank statements the credit reports everything has been falsified but they discovered something even more astonishing this is not the first house the figueroas have squatted it they've squatted in this one and this one in fact court records show since 2008 there have been at least eight prior residences in Sacramento County alone that Mario and Anne have lived in for months and not paid rent they've been evicted from homes in Wilton Elk Grove and Fair Oaks some just blocks from one another one of those homes was tari guns he was just so harmful and helpful in everything and I thought well these are going to be good people right off the bat rent was replaced with excuses the same excuses Karen and Skip got and it was so hard because they got to live there rent free it took time and money to evict them having to go back and forth Court filing just everything I just encourage so many Financial issues that it was really hard when she did finally get them out what she found was shocking we went in the house then and there was a note taped to the sliding glass window that said see you in bankruptcy court her anger doubled when she learned Karen and Skip were among their next victims their home is just two and a half miles from Tories how dare they how dare they come and stay in the same area and keep doing it so we wanted to get answers from the figueroas we wanted to hear and include their side in our reporting and ask why they keep doing this your call has been forwarded we called and left voicemails for both Mario and Anne hi this message is for Anne then we went to speak with them at Karen and Skip's house no one answered but it seemed like they were there or had been recently the lights on but after multiple attempts we left a letter more requesting an interview with them on our way out we noticed the trash can I think there's fresh stuff in the trash can at this point the eviction process had started four months before it looks like a lot of like refrigerated stuff so maybe they moved out any steps taken towards getting them out Karen and Skip credit to the man they hired to evict them once I get involved they can start packing because they're going to go away but as we've seen California law makes it a lengthy and often costly process to evict squatters if you follow administrative law it will go step one step two step three step four and pretty much go by the book with a few exceptions and this is one of those exceptions is when you get professional tenants the system was not built for people like them this system is especially vulnerable due to covid for over two years California created laws to protect tenants from being evicted while navigating the pandemic between that and backed up courts California system enables squatters Barry says we're so much into victims rights but the problem is in this case they don't see the landlords as a victim he says current law treats landlords like their massive entities with endless funds it's an issue because it's not true about 7 out of 10 properties that are being rented are rented by Mom and Pop investors instead homeowners like Karen and Skip have to fight serial squatters so this is just theft and that's why there needs to be change he says I think that our owners rights have been taken for now he recommends homeowners do their homework on potential tenants you've got to do a background check you've got to do a criminal eviction credit and verify your employment verify your income or better yet he says hire a property manager hire somebody that does it for a living his work paid off after our interview in nine months after they first moved in Mario and Anne were evicted so you guys have not been in at all no not at all tari and our crew went with Karen and skipped as they entered their house parties it looks like oh my gosh wow these are broken all these blinds what's all this stuff [Music] the backyard left a mess oh there's a fool up terrible that's green oh no I I'm just happy that they're out of here Karen and Skipper owed over 15 000 for rent That's not including what it'll take to fix the place and that's why they've decided instead of moving back they're going to sell I'm still working and when I should be retiring it's what tari did too I'm not going to be violated again she skipped Karen and others have endured the same difficult path what's your message you want to get across today make sure and go with your gut and do your homework as for their cereal squatters next victim they're already on their way someplace else if it fits their pattern their new home could be just miles away I just feel sorry for the next person foreign [Music]

Channel: ABC10

Views: 1,061,216

Keywords: squatter, squatters, local news, real estate, rent, renting, scam, crime, fraud, unpaid, serial, landlord, landlords, multiple, damage, home, house, crooked, crook, retirement, squatters evicted, squatters kicked out, abc sacramento, california places, kxtv, sacramento news, andie judson abc10, homeowner, rights, sacramento news 2023

Id: A_FxnLo53mo

Length: 8min 6sec (486 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 12 2023