A kind-hearted Kentucky homeowner claims he lost his home after a judge sided with the friends of a squatter who had been occupying his garage for months, obtaining a court order to force him off the premises.
Daniel Toma reportedly offered to help his friend Amy Davis and her boyfriend, Tyler Senkuk, stay in the garage of his Valley Station home in Louisville over the summer when their car broke down. wave.
Toma said Senchuk had been “working on the car for days” in his driveway, apparently to no avail.
“I didn't mean to throw them out on the street, I was just trying to be kind,” Toma told the outlet.
Toma noticed the couple had laid out a mattress in the garage and were soon making themselves at home.
The couple allegedly changed the locks on their garage without paying rent and had Spectrum install cable so mail could be delivered to the husband's address.
Because they didn't have a lease and were staying there for a long time, Toma asked his roommates for help in evicting them from the house, but “they wouldn't leave,” he said.
“We told them to leave and he started claiming that (they) had squatter rights,” Toma said.
Toma said the shenanigans stopped around Labor Day and he served them a 30-day eviction notice in an attempt to get rid of them.
But the suspected squatters hit back even more vigorously.
Shortly after the notice was posted, Senchuk allegedly got into an argument with Toma's roommate that escalated into a physical altercation between the two.
According to the media, Senchuk has applied for an emergency protective order against Toma.
The order listed Toma as Senchuk's roommate, and the judge apparently did not know Toma owned the house, so he granted the order.
The judge issued an order barring Toma from coming within 500 feet of the couple or their home.
“I just want this nightmare to end. I've been homeless for days now,” he told the outlet. “I feel powerless. I feel disenfranchised.”
Senchuk wrote in an email to WAVE that he has a contract with Toma to perform maintenance on the home, and in return, he and Davis will be allowed to stay at the home for his services.
Touma denies that any such agreement was ever reached between her “friend” and her boyfriend.
“Bills are in my name, I have to deal with things and I want to sleep in my own bed,” Toma told the outlet.
According to Kentucky Revised Code, it is legal for squatters to remain on property unless the owner indicates that they are not welcome. Chapter 383 560.
To evict a squatter, the property owner must file a formal eviction order with the court.
Fortunately for Toma, Senchuk has since moved on; it's unclear if Davis moved in with him.
However, Touma must deal with a protection order against him.
He is due to appear in court this week to challenge the order, according to the WAVE.
