Property owner warns others to fight back after squatter takeover

[00:00:00]Imagine having trespassers take over your home, then demand $30,000 to leave.

[00:00:06]That's what a ranch owner in unincorporated El Cajon says happened to her. The Airbnb host says she was so desperate for help, she hired a company called the Squatter Squad. Investigative reporter Austin Grabish shares the warning the professional squatter removers have for homeowners.

[00:00:24]>> Come out with your hands up, Lauren.

[00:00:27]Open the door, demanding entry.

[00:00:29]>> The The whole situation just crushed me.

[00:00:32]I reached a point where I had no idea what to do.

[00:00:36]Um and felt extremely helpless and beyond frustrated.

[00:00:41]>> Had you ever met or seen these people before?

[00:00:43]>> No.

[00:00:43]>> Come to the door, hands up.

[00:00:46]>> With guns drawn, deputies move in to get two squatters out.

[00:00:51]>> So, they had blocked the doors with heavy furniture, like a piano and a big armoire. And covered up the windows.

[00:01:00]Bringing a farm, bringing that whole experience [music] to my grandchildren was my entire motivation for buying this place.

[00:01:06]>> Gracie Young says the squatters took over her family's six-acre ranch in June.

[00:01:12]>> [music] >> Young had been renting the home on her property in unincorporated El Cajon to an Airbnb guest. The day after that vacation renter left, three squatters moved in.

[00:01:24]>> They manufactured some narrative that they had had [music] uh the right to be in the home cuz an Airbnb guest had given them that permission, had rented to them.

[00:01:35]>> Greetings this is the San Diego Sheriff's [singing] Office. Please [music] come out with nothing in your hands.

[00:01:39]>> Young called the Sheriff's Office and got an answer she never expected.

[00:01:44]>> And a junior officer came over. I was on the speakerphone and said, "Okay, well, we're letting him go. It's a civil matter."

[00:01:51]>> Those four words, "It's a civil matter," are exactly what experts say squatters count on to gain the system. In many cases, squatters know that law enforcement is reluctant to determine if an occupant is a tenant or a trespasser.

[00:02:07]So, instead of removing someone on the spot, police often leave it to a judge to decide. And with some of the strongest tenant protections in the country, California landlords must follow strict rules when evicting someone. The court process can drag on for months, even years, and cost thousands of dollars. But remember, [music] these weren't tenants on Young's ranch.

[00:02:31]>> I'm just going to call them criminal trespassers, cuz they're more like a a hostile takeover of my home and a shutdown of my business.

[00:02:39]>> But the deputies, it was a he-said-she-said dispute. Facing a demand from the squatters for $30,000 to leave, Young says she felt like she had nowhere to turn until she found the Squatter Squad.

[00:02:55]>> This house is his house. It's his house.

[00:02:57]Yeah.

[00:02:58]>> Do you understand that?

[00:02:59]>> No, but it's trespassing.

[00:03:00]>> Sheriff's office, you're inside saying something.

[00:03:03]>> Kids are living in here.

[00:03:07]Jeez.

[00:03:08]>> They're usually very destructive and very messy, and it's very costly to clean up after them.

[00:03:14]>> San Diego native Lando Thomas started the business in 2023 and lives in Riverside.

[00:03:20]>> How big of a problem is this?

[00:03:21]>> Oh, it's big. I mean, there's time There's weeks where we might get When it's busy, we might get five calls a day in just for Southern California.

[00:03:30]>> Thomas says his team moved quickly in this case to gather evidence, including notarized documents, Young's property deed, surveillance footage, and court records on the squatters. He says the goal is to avoid the civil court process and have the squatters treated as trespassers, not tenants.

[00:03:52]>> I can't tell you how many calls I've gotten where people have spent over $100,000 on an eviction and they're still there. And then we get them out in about 2 3 months.

[00:04:01]>> Thomas says homeowners can protect themselves by keeping a digital copy of their deed, installing security cameras, and never letting their home appear vacant.

[00:04:12]>> Well, they will drive around when the weeds start to grow up grow and the lights are off. There's There's telltale signs.

[00:04:19]>> Kim Kirkpatrick is the Squatter Squad's co-founder and is retired military. He works with negotiators and a bounty hunter who can arrest squatters with active warrants. And one of the first things his team does is run background checks.

[00:04:36]>> There's a lot of danger with these people.

[00:04:38]>> That's how he says he learned the three squatters on Young's ranch had criminal records, but that alone isn't enough. He says squatters often show fake leases to the police. Some will go further and get their names put on utility bills after calling power companies posing as new tenants.

[00:04:58]>> Most 90% of our squatters plus have the most entitled position.

[00:05:03]And they were basically telling her, "We know our rights."

[00:05:06]>> After being hired by Young, the squad put together a game plan to get the squatters out.

[00:05:13]Armed with the notarized documents and other evidence, Young returned to the sheriff's office asking for help. And this time it worked.

[00:05:23]>> I think that Captain Navarro and his team are did an excellent job. In less than a business day, they put a plan together, came up with a search warrant, and had feet on the ground out here. 10 or 11 officers.

[00:05:40]>> 20 days after they moved in, detectives arrested the two remaining squatters, Kevin Barlow and Amanda Hopkins, [music] on charges of burglary related to utility theft. Court records reviewed by Team 10 show Barlow and Hopkins both have multiple unlawful detainer cases on their records.

[00:06:03]Barlow was even ordered to have his wages garnished after failing to pay rent at this apartment in El Cajon.

[00:06:12]>> [screaming] >> Goats are herd animals. Isn't she cute?

[00:06:14]>> Back at her ranch, Young has increased security.

[00:06:17]>> Tell me what your message is to other owners who might have squatters in their home.

[00:06:22]>> I would highly recommend a call to the Squatter Squad. I don't think that there should have to be a business called the Squatter Squad.

[00:06:28]>> It's almost funny when you hear the name. It's like, really?

[00:06:30]>> It's like, wait, yeah, no, really. It's crazy.

[00:06:32]>> She hopes other homeowners learn from her experience and don't stop fighting when they're told it's a civil matter because after all, trespassing is a crime.

[00:06:43]Austin Grabish, Team 10.