If you can’t beat them, join them.
A Chicago homeowner turned unwanted guests into unwanted roommates when he moved in with two suspected squatters who had taken over his house and refused to leave.
Marco Velazquez was gearing up to sell his property in the city’s South Side neighborhood when he received the troubling news from his realtor regarding the unexpected occupants.
“I couldn’t believe it. It was like a nightmare,” Velazquez told ABC Chicago.
Alleged squatter Shermaine C. Powell and her boyfriend, Codarro T. Dorsey, took refuge in the house and claimed to be the rightful owners of the property when the realtor confronted them.
Powell had been arrested weeks earlier after being accused of squatting in another South Side home.
She was charged with burglary, forgery, obstructing identification and criminal residential trespassing.
When confronted by Velazquez’s realtor and police officers, the sly couple showed off an official-looking mortgage document, claiming they had every right to remain in the house.
Officials could not find a copy of the mortgage in their records, but were limited on what they could do because of city laws, the outlet reported.
Under current Illinois law, police cannot remove any suspected squatters unless the homeowner goes through the months-long eviction process.
New legislation, SB1563, making its way through the statehouse, would allow the immediate removal of alleged squatters if the rightful homeowner can prove the property is theirs.
The aptly-nicknamed “Squatter’s Bill” has bipartisan backing in the state Senate and House.
The news frustrated Velazquez as he feared he couldn’t do anything about the intruders.
“The worst thing happened, when police told me they couldn’t do anything. It needs to go to a civil court,” the he said.
Not wanting a court battle or to get kicked out of his property, Velazquez decided to move in.
Armed with air mattresses, the rightful owner, his wife and a few friends spent the night with the couple in another room.
“We stayed in the living room, watching the door. They stayed in one of the bedrooms,” Velazquez said. “We stayed a whole night with them.”
Velazquez’s stunt did not work and the suspected squatters demanded $8,000 to leave the property.
The homeowners and the couple negotiated and agreed that Velazquez would pay them $4,300 in a cash-for-key agreement.
“We didn’t want to give them money, but we heard really bad stories about squatters taking over properties for six, eight, 10 months, even a year,” Velazquez said. “I heard stories before about squatters. I never thought it would happen to me.”
Powell said she was “innocent until proven guilty,” after being accused of being a squatter.