A HOMEOWNER faces a bill of at least $25,000 after strangers moved into his home, claimed ownership, and refused to leave for six months.

It comes after he finally regained access and has seen the extent of the damage they and their pit bull caused to his property.

Mark Goodman from Thornton, a southern suburb of Chicago, struggled for several months to evict a group of strangers who unexpectedly took up residence in his house last December, with no assistance from the police.

Even though he hadn’t done anything wrong, he is now burdened with significant expenses because two doors were ripped off their hinges, copper pipes were taken from the plumbing systems, and an accumulation of trash, dog waste, and miscellaneous debris was left behind.

“They left it in an absolute mess,” he told the I-team at ABC affiliate WLS-TV.

“They’ve destroyed the house. It needs at least $25,000. I don’t know how people can actually do this.”

Pointing out the missing copper pipes, he said: “They just ripped it.

“You can see right where they cut it off.”

Instead of being able to celebrate the fact the squatters are gone, Goodman is now scrambling to find the cash to fix the house.

“It’s going to take several months for me to put it on the market,” he added.

SHOCK DISCOVERY

He first became aware of the strangers and their dog living in his home when he arranged to hand over keys to a prospective tenant last year and met them at the property.

“I tried to go into the property and found out there were already people living there,” Goodman told the news outlet.

“I’m like, ‘What are you guys doing here? Who are you?’ They said, ‘We bought the house.’ I said, ‘You bought the house?!'”

When he confronted the group, they then changed their story saying they were renting it.

Despite calling the cops, Goodman was told they couldn’t help as it’s a civil dispute which meant the group continued living at his property as a months-long legal battle played out ending in their eviction.

“It’s a horrible feeling,” Goodman said.

Expert Advice: Actions to take if you have a squatter

The U.S. Sun’s Emma Crabtree spoke to real estate attorney Paul Golden about what property owners can do when dealing with squatters. Here is what he advised:

Police

• Call the police and hope they are successful in removing the unwanted individual(s), he said.

‘Self-Help Method’

• This is a risky method of evicting squatters but is accepted by at least one New York court “in certain circumstances,” Golden said.
• Using this method, property owners “physically remove the squatter(s).”
• However, if the person is deemed to have been ejected “forcefully or unlawfully,” then property owners may face paying damages and even be “subject to a civil penalty and be guilty of a misdemeanor.”

Court Filing

• The third option is to go the legal route and file a summary proceeding after issuing a 10-day notice to those occupying the property.
• The downside to this option, Golden warned, is that “in New York City, it could take months before the court would finally issue a warrant.”
• It may take even longer for a date to be set for a city marshal to remove the squatter.

“My heart just fell right out of my chest… this is a huge problem and it’s affecting a lot of people.”

He has even issued fellow homeowners a vacation warning as he and others who have found squatters in their home beg officials to take more of a stand.

“The way the law is right now, if any one of us were to go on vacation and someone says they have proof that they live there, a lease, a sales contract that was forged, it’s your word against theirs,” Goodman said.

Now homeowners in Illinois are waiting for Governor JB Pritzker to sign the House and Senate Squatter Bill that passed earlier this year that will give police rights to remove squatters if owners can prove they own the property.

Goodman called on the Governor to “sign the law immediately”.

Meanwhile, those who are going away, especially for a long period or time or who own a second property should look at getting house sitters or neighbors who can regularly check in on the home.

This is also the case on properties that are advertised on the market as they can be more at risk.

According to WLS-TV, it could also be beneficial to install security cameras as police can take action if they are given evidence of a break-in.