A U.S. Army officer is furious that the laws in Georgia won’t allow her to evict a squatter who snuck into her home while she was on active duty.
Records show the man has a long criminal history.
Lt. Colonel Dahlia Daure spoke to WSB-TV about the nightmare she’s enduring. She said that the squatter was discovered when her real estate agent went to the home in preparation to sell it to a buyer.
“He’s not a tenant. He’s a squatter,” Daure said.
She said that the man moved in without her knowledge or permission.
“I was beside myself and I felt violated. Had I not been serving my country, I would have been in my home,” Daure explained.
Daure says she was renting out the home in Atlanta because she was stationed in Chicago, Illinois. After spending $35,000 on a renovation, she says she was ready to sell and had found a willing buyer.
“I got a cash offer. It was under contract,” she said.
Daure says that a man named Vincent Simon moved in before the sale was complete. He claims that he paid $19,000 upfront for a lease and showed police a document that Daure says has a disconnected phone number.
Police said it was a civil matter, so Daure filed to have the man evicted, but he has a right to respond and have his case heard by a judge.
“I can’t ask them to leave. I can’t put them out. The police can’t put them out. What justice is that?” Daure said.
WSB-TV found that Simon has a long criminal history, including convictions for guns, drugs, and theft charges.
Daure also says that she witnessed the man moving large safes into her home.
She has no choice but to let the eviction process work out. It could take weeks or months to complete.
“I want to go shoot out the windows, turn off the water, cut wires, but I can’t. That’s a crime. Law-abiding citizens can’t do that,” she said, clearly frustrated.
Here’s a local news report about the incident:
Army officer says squatter moved into her DeKalb home while she was on duty, now she can’t evict himwww.youtube.com
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