A FURIOUS homeowner ended up in jail charged with criminal trespass after trying to move back into her home taken over by an illegal squatter.
Loletha Hale has slammed cops after authorities claimed that the woman living in her home was not squatting.
The homeowner from Clayton County, south of Atlanta, Georgia, first encountered Sakemeyia Johnson living in her property in August.
Hale called the police who cited Johnson using the new Georgia Squatter Reform Act.
However, Judge Latrevia Lates-Johnson of the Magistrate Court in Clayton County decided that she could not be considered a squatter since she is connected to the partner of the individual who was evicted earlier.
“How can she not be squatting when I’ve never had any type of contract relationship with this person?” Hale told local ABC affiliate WSBTV.
Then on December 9, a stunned Hale found cops at her front door.
Bodycam footage shows an officer explaining to Hale why she should see things from the alleged squatter’s point of view.
“Just think of it from this perspective, though,” the officer says in the footage.
“Everybody isn’t as fortunate as you to have a bed. All the little things, a bed in their house, food in the kitchen.”
The case sparked a multi-month court battle with filings, hearings, and appeals.
Johnson even filed for bankruptcy, listing Hale as her only creditor.
On November 18, a magistrate judge issued a final judgment in Hale’s favor.
Hale believed her nightmare was over and came over the weekend to start cleaning up her home.
But when she returned on Monday she discovered Johnson had broken the locks at her property.
“She just caught up out of nowhere. She had this guy with him, and I locked the door,” Johnson told police.
“I locked the screen door, and he forced himself in telling us to get out.”
In the incident report, the responding deputy said that Hale had “executed an illegal eviction and forcibly removed Ms Johnson’s belongings.”
The report states that in cell phone video Hale can be heard telling Johnson to leave before she got her gun.
Hale has been charged with criminal trespassing and a misdemeanor count of terroristic threats.
Johnson has not been charged with any crime.
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.
The Clayton County Sheriff’s Department did not respond immediately to The U.S. Sun’s requests for comment.
In an earlier statement, Chief Magistrate Judge Keisha Wright Hill said, “A timetable for the resolution of this matter cannot be given by the Clayton County Magistrate Court, as the tenant filed a timely appeal to the Superior Court of Clayton County.
“Any timelines would have to be addressed by Superior Court.
“The previous delay in this matter was a result of the tenant fil
