A Georgia man claims he returned home from caring for his sick wife to find squatters had changed the locks on his home and moved in. Local laws currently prevent the alleged freeloader from being evicted.
“Basically, these guys came on a Friday, broke into my house, and had all my stuff brought in in a U-Haul. It’s frustrating. It’s so frustrating. I can’t even sleep,” the DeKalb man said. says Paul Cullins of told WSB TV.
Cullins has poured thousands of dollars into renovating the home he inherited from his late father, but after squatters moved in, he encountered many obstacles in getting rid of the alleged trespassers. I realized that I was standing in my way.
“I called the police and they said they couldn’t do anything because I had a fake rental agreement, so I guess they’ve done something like this before. It’s a civil matter,” Cullins said. said.
Cullins believes the squatters targeted him after posting a rental ad online. When he lost his home, he was planning to rent it to a government-subsidized tenant, WSB-TV reported.
Rather than forcibly evicting squatters, Georgia law requires homeowners to file a “trespasser’s affidavit,” which is required before police can act. An affidavit would need to be filed with the court, Cullins explained.
“We have to go through the court process, which we understand could take 60 to 90 days,” the homeowner said.
Situations like Cullins’ have become all too common in Georgia.
About 1,200 homes in DeKalb County are currently occupied by squatters, according to the National Rental Housing Council trade group. Critics say the problem is made worse by its civil status, which prevents homeowners from easily evicting trespassers.
Georgia lawmakers are close to passing a bill that would make illegal occupancy a criminal offense, the use of fake leases a felony, and allow police officers to arrest criminals.
“They know exactly what they’re doing, and they steal someone else’s most valuable capital, their home. There is,” he said. told Fox News.
“I don’t know what took me so long to get here…but there are no more free rides.”
