A homeowners worst nightmare occurred to this Flint, Michigan family when they arrived back from their vacation out of town, they found a new resident living upstairs, she is refusing to leave the premises reported by WJRT.
Daniel Riegel the current resident staying in his godfathers property. He states that he was out of town for a couple of days, so he let his friend house-sit for a couple of days. His friend, who is now in jail for another crime, let the woman stay in the house after she claimed that she had nowhere to go.
Daniel came back a was startled to find that the upper portion of his house had been taken over by the strange woman who is now refusing to leave and the police or Daniel cannot do anything about it, due to squatters rights.
Due to his friend welcoming the lady into the home and Daniel not able to report the incident under 72 hours from it occurring, the police are not able to get involved in the situation and remove the lady for trespassing. The lady, after a month of staying in the property, was eventually given an eviction notice but claimed the notice was not genuine, so she is staying put. It has now become a civil matter and Daniel has to go through the court system to evict the squatter out of his property.
Daniel has no option but to live downstairs whilst the lady occupies the top of his house. He is claiming that he sees random people walk in and out of the house, Daniel says "It’s been hell. Meth-heads, heroin addicts and drug dealers. I don't even know who these people are". She has also taken $1000 worth of Daniel Riegel's belongings including a Xbox, knives from the kitchen draws and ornamental swords.
Squatters can move into a property and if they have stayed long enough inside the property, in rare cases, they can eventually claim ownership of the home if they know the legal process. Squatting is currently classed as a misdemeanor in Michigan, the squatter can potentially be struck with a jail sentence of up to two years and receive a $10,000 fine.