Squatter turns couple’s dream home purchase into nightmare

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Real estate litigator explains legal process of handling squatters after unwanted tenants take over Colorado couple’s home

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A new home purchase has turned into a nightmare for a New York couple after they were unable to move in due to an unwanted guest refusing to leave the premises. 

Rochester homeowners Ryan Folts and his girlfriend Caitlin Pitts told News 8 they bought the home at an auction last January that was in foreclosure and knew it was occupied when they bought it. But they didn’t know the terror they would face.

“I offered him $500 a month [to let the squatter stay in the house], and he told me that if I came back, he was going to take my life,” Folts explained to News 8.

Folts said he and Pitts had even gone through all the “red tape” of trying to get the man out of the house and still had no luck. 

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A “No Trespassing” sign (iStock)

“I gave him a few more months of just squatting, and then I went through the court process, process of getting him removed,” Folts said. “You’ve taken all the proper legal steps to have him removed and then some, and that’s all been passed. And now here we are with him still squatting in the house.” 

Folts added that they had contacted Rochester Police, who had gone to the home. But when officers tried to enter the home and were “greeted” by the squatter, Folts claimed the officers “walked away and said it’s not their job.”

Rochester Police Capt. Greg Bello told Fox News Digital in a statement the department “does not have the legal authority to execute evictions. Those are completed by the city marshal (not a City of Rochester position, they work with Rochester City Court). A judge has not issued a court order allowing RPD to force entry into the location to arrest the occupant, and, therefore, we do not have the legal authority to do so.

“I completely understand the frustration by the new homeowners, but our actions are dictated by law and the courts.”

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A home for sale in West Seattle June 18, 2024.  (David Ryder/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Fox News Digital reached out to the Rochester City Marshal.

With the first lockout date for the squatter scheduled for late December, when he was supposed to be out of the house, the couple told News 8 they had sold the home where they had been living, expecting to move in.

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Leka Devatha, a landlord, discusses the moment she confronted squatters.  (Leka Devatha )

“We’re staying every night in a hotel because we thought we were going to have somewhere to go. We’re paying for a storage unit, paying for a hotel every night and it’s been going on a month. It’s not fun,” Pitts said. “We have a target on our back now, and why, when we’ve done everything right?”

With the lockout date well past due, Folts and Pitts said they aren’t sure where to turn next.

“I think what needs to be done from here on out is we need help. We need help from the public, whoever is willing to help,” Pitts said. “We’re citizens of this community. We pay taxes. He’s living for free. He has mental health issues. So, like I said, a mental health professional should be here. He’s burglarizing. He’s trespassing. He’s threatening people. … He needs to go.”

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The couple said that if they are unable to get the squatter out, they do not see themselves ever moving into the home.

“I don’t see us ever living here, because I feel as though there would definitely be a target on our back, and it would be way too dangerous. And we would never be able to relax. So, we’re just going to try and sell it at some point, if we can even do that,” Folts said.

Stepheny Price is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. Story tips and ideas can be sent to stepheny.price@fox.com