Marco Velazquez Chicago homeowner moves in with squatters refusing to leave property after having moved in to vacant property before striking a deal to get them to move out after Shermaine C. Powell and her boyfriend, Codarro T. Dorsey, go down from $8K to $4,300 before agreeing to ‘move out.’
A ‘frustrated’ Chicago homeowner turned the tables on unwanted ‘guests’ after the would be squatters refused to leave his home after suddenly taking up residence.
Marco Velazquez was getting ready to sell his property in the city’s South Side neighborhood when he was told by his realtor that a couple had begun living at the home, claiming they had recently bought the home and weren’t budging.
‘I couldn’t believe it. It was like a nightmare,’ Velazquez told ABC Chicago.
Illinois squatter rights
Alleged squatter Shermaine C. Powell and her boyfriend, Codarro T. Dorsey, took refuge in the house and claimed to be the rightful owners of the property when the realtor confronted them.
Not immediately known is how long the property had been unoccupied when the squatting couple moved in and how they came to find out about the vacant property before deciding to move in.
Of note, Powell had been arrested weeks earlier after being accused of squatting in another South Side home.
She was charged with burglary, forgery, obstructing identification and criminal residential trespassing.
When confronted by Velazquez’s realtor and cops, the couple produced an official-looking mortgage document, claiming they had recently bought the home and that they had every right to remain in the house. How the couple were able to acquire the mortgage document remained unclear along with the loophole of ease of access to city records without official seal.
Illinois Squatters Bill
Cook County officials could not find a copy of the mortgage in their records, but were limited on what they could do to avail the ‘rightful property owner’ because of city laws, the outlet reported.
Under current Illinois law, police cannot remove any suspected squatters unless the homeowner goes through a months-long eviction process.
The process involves going through housing court where it can be demonstrated who has actual recourse to the property, with each side making their case in front of a judge who then decides the matter. A process which sometimes takes months and years. Especially if a jurisdiction is backed up with housing, landlord-tenant cases.
New legislation, SB1563, making its way through the statehouse, would allow the immediate removal of alleged squatters if the rightful homeowner can prove the property is theirs.
The ‘Squatter’s Bill’ has bipartisan backing in the state Senate and House. The bill is aimed at separating tenants, who have rights, from squatters, who would not have rights under the proposed law.
Marco Velazquez Chicago homeowner extortion?
But for now, Velazquez still had little alternative recourse except to take the couple through housing court at legal expense and time to himself along with lost opportunity and inconvenience. Never mind the threat of property damage.
‘The worst thing happened when police told me they couldn’t do anything. It needs to go to a civil court,’ he said.
Not wanting a court battle or to get kicked out of his property, Velazquez hatched up another idea. He decided to move in with the squatters.
Armed with air mattresses, Velazquez, his wife and a few friends spent the night with the couple in another room.
‘We stayed in the living room, watching the door. They stayed in one of the bedrooms,’ Velazquez said. ‘We stayed a whole night with them.’
Undeterred, the suspected squatters demanded $8,000 to leave the property.
The homeowners and the couple negotiated and agreed that Velazquez would pay them $4,300 in a cash-for-key agreement.
‘We didn’t want to give them money, but we heard really bad stories about squatters taking over properties for six, eight, 10 months, even a year,’ Velazquez said. ‘I heard stories before about squatters. I never thought it would happen to me.’
Powell has since claimed she was ‘innocent until proven guilty’ after being accused of being a squatter.
The episode led to commentators on the web wondering why police were not able to ‘simply arrest’ the squatting couple, or just ‘rough the couple up,’ as some suggested.
Nevertheless the principle of squatter rights does have a legitimate legal principle which seeks to preserve the rights of an individual dwelling at a property without the legal owner’s permission for a specified period. This concept is rooted in land law and aims to resolve issues of abandoned property and long-term occupation.
