Squatters attack rental property owners with brick and human feces, damaging property worth $38K
JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA: Two female squatters allegedly shacked up in a Florida rental property for more than a month along with their pit bulls. The reports claim that the duo caused almost $40,000 in damages and even attacked the landlords by flinging a brick and human feces on them. Co-owners Patti Peeples and Dawn Tiura told News4Jax that the two got to know about their Jacksonville home being overtaken by a couple after they decided to get a handyman to fix it for a potential sellout.
The worker informed the Peeples about a dozen of pit bull puppies on the sunroom porch when they went to check on the property. According to the owners, the women forced their way into the property after the previous tenet left in March. The squatters, who were in a relationship, alleged that they had signed a lease agreement and paid rent, a security deposit, and a pet deposit to a false landlord. Suggesting they were victims of a Zillow rental scam, as per Fox News.
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'Unable to take repossession of a home that we own'
However, authorities didn’t have much reason to believe their story, as it was found that one of the women had been evicted in mid-February from a nearby home with a similar incident. Adding more insult to injury, landlords got access to their home this week but had to spend $5,000 in court fees. ″This has been a 40-plus day process that we have been unable to take repossession of a home that we own by squatters who broke in and inhabited our home and then destroyed it,” Peeples told News4Jax.
'Should be treated within the criminal court system'
The owners added that the property helps fund their retirement, and shared that the two were attacked by the women on arrival. “We were driving by at night, and they threw a brick at my car and damaged it, and we had the window partway down, and they threw human feces into the car", said the couple in an interview. Peeples also appealed to Governor Ron DeSantis to change the current state law and make it easier for owners to get squatters booted out. “Squatters are nothing more than criminals who are breaking and entering into a house, should not be handled in civil court,” argued Peeples before adding “They should be treated within the criminal court system.”