-[Flash] It's going to be our house, too.
I'm the only one that has a legitimate lease.
So are we going to come to an agreement today,
or am I going to ask you what's on the grocery list?
Alright. Your window's closing.
I'm Flash Shelton.
In 2019, squatters took over my mom's home.
The sheriff couldn't get them out, so I did.
Turns out my family is not alone.
Across America, thousands of homeowners get locked out
when a squatter moves in.
Now my team and I... -We're coming in.
- ...travel across the country confronting these squatters...
-[Woman] Leave me the [bleep] alone.
-...face-to-face... -We're not going anywhere.
- ...to help families get their homes back.
-Yo, back the [bleep] up out of my face, dawg.
-Get out of my house.
♪
-[Flash] I'm in Saratoga Springs, New York,
and I'm on my way to meet homeowners
who have been stuck with potentially three squatters.
I'm looking forward to finding out what kind of nightmare
they've been going through.
-Hi, guys. -How you doing?
-Good. How are you?
-We've had better times. -Gina.
-I'm Flash. -Nice to meet you.
-I'm Charlie. -Nice to meet you guys.
-Likewise. -I understand
you have a nightmare that you're going through, and I --
and I wanted to come out and hear it directly from you.
-[Gina] About 10 years ago, we were trying to buy a house.
We fell in love with one on down the road.
We were told no twice, but we got it.
We're doing okay for a while,
but we had to leave.
We didn't have a choice.
We had to take care of my dad down in Alabama.
And we thought we'd rent out the house to pay bills.
-To try and hold on to it. -You were going to rent the home
because you were taking care of your father?
Is that how I understand it? -Correct, to try and save it.
-[Flash] And what happened there?
-My neighbor across the street,
uh, had vouched for these people, said they were okay.
They didn't have a place to go, I was told, and --
-Okay. -Their house had burned down.
I let them in before I had a signed lease,
and we never got a lease back.
-So they were living there with no lease,
is that correct? -With no lease. Right.
-Okay. So they want to live for free.
-Yeah. -Right.
-And you were 1,300 miles away at the time.
-I've never seen these people. -You've never seen these people.
Okay. -He has, but I have not.
-I've met them. -So when you encountered them,
how did that go?
-I asked what was going on.
What are your intentions? We haven't received any rent.
She immediately went into,
the house is not habitable because of mice.
-Are you aware that there was an infestation
of mice in the house?
-There's not -- -There might have been 1 or 2.
It's upstate New York. You can't avoid it.
-Put traps. They're gone. End of story.
-Alright. So right now, they're living there rent free.
-Yep. -And you're paying their bills.
-And they get to use our furniture.
-[Charlie] And we don't even get to sleep in our own bed.
-Where are you guys living now?
-Florida. -Florida. In limbo.
-I'm just coming off of cancer treatment, getting back to work.
And I'm struggling to keep our own lights on,
let alone we have to keep theirs on.
-[Gina] We're supposed to be homeless,
I guess, and they're not.
-These people have broken me down.
-Yeah. Um, so, uh, how many squatters are there?
-There's three for certain. -Okay.
And how long have your squatters been in the house?
-Four months. And if we go through the legal process,
it could be another six months.
-[Flash] This is a huge financial burden on them.
They can't handle the stress anymore.
When squatters take over, families are destroyed.
So, one of the things that will allow me
to enter the property is a lease, okay?
I will be the only one with a lease,
a signed lease, to your property.
Are you okay with that? -We are.
-[Charlie] We're supposed to be just okay with other people
living in our house while we're borrowing money
to try and survive.
We're hoping that we can start putting our lives
back together again.
-I'm looking forward to seeing the end result.
♪
-[Flash] Alright. The only thing we have right now
is there's possibly three individuals.
So just gonna do a drive by, get a read on this property,
see if we can see any movement out front,
how many cars.
You can see the white garage right there.
There's only one car in the driveway.
Curtains are all closed. Blinds are all closed.
So we don't know how many people are in the house.
Let's see if we can get some neighbors to help us.
♪
I'm gonna go knock on the door.
♪
Hi. How are you?
My name is Flash Shelton,
and I'm here investigating a situation with a neighbor.
Across the way there,
the white house there.
They're squatters. -[Neighbor] Oh.
-Okay? And if I have a view from this tree here,
can I put a camera there overnight?
-[Neighbor] Yeah, you got it. -[Flash] Thank you.
Put the strap on the back side.
Any movement over there, Cam?
-Nothing yet.
-[Flash] Right there. That's good. Alright, here we go.
♪
Oh, shoot.
Okay, let's get that on camera.
Okay. -[Man] Yeah.
We're rolling. -[Man #2] Thank you.
[dog barking]
-[Flash] Maybe a 30s male.
And a pit bull. That's definitely a big dog.
I don't know what training this dog has,
so we're looking for any indication
that there could be safety concerns.
♪
-[Cam] Hold up. We got a white SUV pulling in.
♪
Looks like two females.
-[Flash] Okay. Well, we've got three individuals
and a dog that we know of that's in the house.
Alright, let's go.
♪
We've got a camera up,
so we've got eyes on the property now.
♪
Alright, guys, let's gear up.
Ready to confront these guys.
I have a working key to my knowledge and a lease.
I can enter the property, but I want to minimize the risk.
-[Cam] Radio check. -Copy that.
-[Flash] So I need Michael here as lookout.
Check good.
Alright, guys, ready? -[Man] Let's do it.
-[Flash] Whew. Remember, we do have a pit bull here,
so be on alert.
-[Cam] Oh, for sure.
-[Flash] Our camera's still there.
Got -- Is that a different car?
We may have different people there.
♪
Mike, I want you right there in the front
where you can see us and where you can see anyone pulling up.
Alright, Cam, come with me.
Remember, keep an eye open for the dog.
[dog barking]
Hello.
How you doing?
So, uh, can I talk to you?
I'm here to talk to you about this house.
You're --
What do you mean, you're not interested?
Hey, ma'am?
Ma'am, this isn't a choice by you.
Hey, ma'am?
Typically, when there's a squatter that -- that feels
that they have some sort of a case, they will talk to me.
They will want to plead their case.
Ma'am, I'm trying to just do this
and have a peaceful conversation.
♪
But none of them want to talk.
Come on. This can be peaceful and just have a conversation.
I want to give you every opportunity to cooperate.
Alright. I'm going to go speak to the officer.
Hello.
Yeah. Yeah.
I've got an ill owner that's trying to get this home back.
-Okay. -They're in here with no signed
lease and no rent payments.
And I'm just trying to talk to them.
-Okay. I think we'll get their lease,
and we'll come outside, and we'll try to compare.
-[Flash] Sure, sure.
[knock on door] -Sheriff's office.
Thank you.
-There's more people than what we thought.
♪
-[Squatter] Thank you. -Alright.
Um... -[Flash] Okay.
So that's their lease? -[Sheriff] Yeah.
So did you get exact permission from the homeowner?
-[Flash] Yes. -Okay. Do you have writ--
-Do you have it written? -Yes.
-Can I see that? -Sure.
So, I have a lease so that we can compare.
-[Sheriff] Okay. -Look at the signature.
'Cause the homeowners claim
that they have never signed anything.
Um...
Yeah. Signature's not even close.
[indistinct radio chatter]
Sharp edges versus round.
[indistinct radio chatter]
♪
Alright. Uh, uh, uh --
There's the supervisor.
Yeah. My name is Flash.
-[Supervisor] How you doing? -[Flash] I'm out here today to
try to mediate the situation... -[Supervisor] Okay. Okay.
-...and talk to them. They just presented a lease,
and our homeowners have said
that they never signed a lease with them.
That's a forgery. -Okay.
-So they can pursue that.
-Okay. Give me a minute. Let me talk to her.
-It was very clear that it was a forgery.
The signatures do not look anything like each other,
which actually is a good thing.
Squatting is not a criminal matter, but forgery is.
As soon as the fake lease is given,
the officer has no choice but to treat them like tenants.
He is not allowed to decipher
whether the signatures match. That's above his pay grade.
It will need to go in front of a judge.
♪
-Sure.
They're not going to talk to you guys, so...
-Okay. -You want to hang out
with your cameras and then so be it, but --
-[Flash] I want to put up an inspection notice, though,
for 24-hour notice to enter.
-Yeah. You got to give them 24-hour notice.
-[Flash] Okay. Then I'll just put one right now.
-[Supervisor] That works for me. -[Flash] Okay.
Because of the laws, their hands are tied.
But our 24-hour notice to enter for inspection purposes
will allow me to attempt to go in the home again tomorrow.
There's my notice for tomorrow. Can you hand it to her?
There are a group of people
that are taking advantage of the system,
hiding behind a door and hiding behind the laws.
Where's the justice in that?
♪
Oh, we got a car pulling out of there right now.
That means there's less people in the house.
Let's do this.
Yesterday, the squatters wouldn't open the door.
They wouldn't let us in.
But I've given the proper notice.
I'm not going away.
-[Man] Got a window shade moving.
-[Cam] Copy that.
[dog barking]
-You were given notice. We gave a 24-hour notice.
We're here to do our inspection.
♪
Yes, it is. You were delivered a notice yesterday,
and I'm here per that notice, per the law.
I want to come in, do an inspection,
hopefully have a civil conversation with you
if you're willing to talk.
♪
Just me and my camera guy.
Alright.
So you say there's a rodent problem
that they're not taking care of?
And you've written them, reported it?
Do you have any traps set up or anything?
Okay. Can you show me any rat droppings or anything?
Okay.
She is justifying being in the house rent-free
because she says it's subpar living conditions,
and it's unlivable.
I can't hear them.
She has complained about water damage.
She has complained about rats and rat feces.
Well, I'm looking around,
and I don't see any evidence of that.
-Just bring on the eviction. -Okay.
-[Squatter] Just do it. -Alright, so here's the deal.
Giving a lease to the sheriff's department
yesterday with a fake signature,
you have committed a criminal act here, presenting a lease
that you forged.
That could come with prison time.
♪
You did that. You made that mistake.
-[Squatter] What do you want me to do? Pick up all my [bleep]
and leave in a day? -Yes.
-[Squatter] No. -I'm not saying a day.
I'll give you time.
But the moment you do not vacate,
that it will be evidence in the eviction.
And it's going to go against you.
♪
-[Squatter] We need 60 days to pack up all this stuff.
-[Flash] I'm not giving you 60 days.
I will give you 30 days.
And whatever you have that's left here
will be put in storage for you.
And that will extend another 30 days for you to get it.
♪
You got to make a decision today.
This is it. This is a one-time deal on the table.
-[Squatter] What happens to the lease and stuff?
-There is no lease.
-[Squatter] What about the one I gave to the sheriff?
-Like I said, there is no lease, right?
-[Squatter] So 45 days. -[Flash] 30 days,
or I sit down on the couch,
and we bring in the rest of my rent-a-cops.
♪
It's going to be our house, too.
♪
I'm the only one that has the legitimate lease.
♪
So are we going to come to an agreement today,
or am I going to ask you what's on the grocery list?
♪
Alright. Your window's closing.
♪
Well, least she hasn't drawn a weapon.
Think she's on the phone.
♪
So, you ready to talk?
-So I have 30 days to leave?
And you promise?
I want in writing
that you'll store all of our stuff for 30 days.
-I will get an agreement brought in right now,
and we will sign that agreement.
-Fine. Whatever. Fine.
-The truth is, the lack of empathy, the justification,
it's a pattern. It's something that I see with squatters,
nonpaying tenants, people that take advantage of others
and have no remorse.
Just write their names and confirm who's here.
They truly have convinced themselves
that they're doing no wrong.
Alright. Well, thank you. I wish you the best,
and I hope you make better choices.
♪
You know, I always want to be able to give the best news
and give a key back and say, hey, this house is yours.
But sometimes I need to give people time
to pack up their belongings and move out.
Hey, guys. -[Gina] Hi.
-Good afternoon. -[Flash] Hey. How you doing?
Good to -- Good to see you guys again.
-Hoping for good news.
-Well, I have some good news and bad news.
The good news is the squatters signed a vacate agreement.
-Awesome. That's amazing to hear.
-Okay? So the bad news is they're not out today.
You have to wait another 30 days, okay?
Now, I know that you want, you know, something different,
but this is the time we need to give them,
and they will move out, okay?
-[Charlie] That does give us some hope.
-So, you know, normally I'm battling with squatting,
which no state recognizes as a crime, okay?
But your squatters thought
that if they were to supply a lease, I would go away.
You told me that they didn't sign a lease.
So I compared their lease signature
to the lease that you gave me,
and the signatures are not even close, okay?
So they ended up giving us a lease that they forged.
So... -Unbelievable.
-You know, that makes it criminal.
So if they don't vacate,
they know what the consequences are.
Okay? Because ultimately, we just want our house back.
The mistake you made was letting them into the home
without getting a signed lease.
And hopefully in the future,
you won't have any more problems like this.
-I'll never do that again.
Uh, this was definitely a lesson very well learned.
Um, but I do feel a lot better knowing
that soon I'll be able to go into my house.
Having the house is about the only thing
I want in the world.
♪