Squatters had occupied his mother's house, but a determined handyman took matters into his own hands, devising an ingenious strategy to evict them.
The founder of the United Handyman Association, Flash Shelton, became a squatter himself.
"I dissected the laws over a weekend. I basically figured out that until there's civil action, the squatters didn't have any rights. So if I could switch places with them, become the squatter myself, I would assume those squatter rights," said Shelton during his appearance on "Varney & Co." on Thursday.
When his father passed away, the family was looking to sell their house. However, they discovered that squatters, people who reside in a property without owning or renting it, had moved in.
Shelton was frustrated by the limited assistance from law enforcement. "I called local law enforcement, and as soon as they saw that there was furniture in the house, they said that I had a squatter situation and they had basically no jurisdiction and they couldn't do anything," he detailed.
Recognizing an opportunity within squatter laws, Shelton sought to retake his home. For added protection, he had his mother draft and notarize a lease.
"I packed up my jeep, drove up there and paced out the joint around 4 a.m. I waited. About 8:00, 8:30 in the morning, three cars pulled out of the driveway and I made entrance to the house. I put up cameras, waited for them to come back," he narrated.
"They didn't have a lease, so that never came into play. But when they came back, I just laid it out for them, told them that it was all locked up, cameras, and the only way they would get back in the house is if they broke in on camera, and I would prosecute. I told them they had a day to get their stuff out or the furniture was not theirs anymore."
In many U.S. cities, squatting is an escalating issue, often exacerbated by policies that favor squatters and tenants over property owners.
Mitch Roschelle, managing director of Madison Ventures+, warned of increased squatting in urban areas such as New York City, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles. "The laws are written to protect the tenant, not the landlord," Roschelle shared with Fox News Digital in June. "The local laws that protect tenants at the expense of landlords have fueled this phenomenon because we've basically said forever it's the landlord's fault, not the tenant's fault if the tenant can't pay rent."
He cautioned landlords about the imbalance, stating, "The law is not on your side."
Shelton can attest to this imbalance firsthand. "The law would prevent me from physically removing them," he explained. "However, being that I wasn't the homeowner, I had more rights. As a tenant, I would actually have more rights than them."
If the squatters had chosen to stay, Shelton would have relied on his lease, intending to make their stay unbearable until they left. Now, having resolved his squatter situation, Shelton offers his insights to others facing similar challenges and is pushing for legal reforms on squatting.
"I do Zoom consultations. I ask people to make a donation to the cause. And when I can physically go out and help them, then yes, it is. It is something I am doing to help people now, as many as I personally possibly can," Shelton shared with Stuart Varney.
"More importantly to that is I'm trying to change the laws. That's my number one focus. So in helping others right now, since, you know, I feel bad, I can't help everyone, but if we can change the squatter laws, I feel like that's the way I can help everyone."
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