A real estate investor in NW Philadelphia recently had to pay squatters $1,200 to leave a house he was selling after police said they couldn’t get involved – calling it a landlord-tenant issue since they claimed to be renters. And, to add insult to injury, local court staff said a formal eviction could take more than six months. According to the FOX News report, the suspects had squatters’ rights as soon as they moved into the house, which is why the police suggested that he file a landlord-tenant complaint.
Interestingly, a few days later the squatters reached out to to arrange a meeting where they said they had found somewhere else to live and would leave the property for $2,000. The property owner ultimately paid them $1,200 after walking through the house – which was dirty, but thankfully undamaged.
“I had all my paperwork, purchase and sale agreement, homeowner’s insurance, the deed to the home, everything on me. They said it didn’t matter…” Said Chris Harte. [the property owner]
“The police told us that they get three to four calls a day similar to this,” real estate agent Bob Cervone told Fox News.
“The house was super dirty, trash everywhere…Luckily, there was no damage.” Said Harte.
Click here to read the full story at FOX News.
