Flash Shelton: Squatter menace may have just met its match as handyman finds legal way to boot them out
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: A man named Flash Shelton has finally found a solution to deal with squatters occupying a property.
More importantly, the way that he has come up with is fully legal. After solving a squatter issue in his mother’s home, Shelton is now helping others to deal with similar situations, per Fox News.
Who is Flash Shelton?
Shelton is the founder of the United Handyman Association. He recently acquired nationwide acclaim by being able to evict squatters from his mother’s home successfully.
To evict the unsolicted occupants of his mother’s home after the death of his father, he became a squatter himself.
On Thursday, August 17, Shelton said on ‘Varney & Co’, “I dissected the laws over a weekend. I basically figured out that until there's civil action, the squatters didn't have any rights.”
He continued, “So if I could switch places with them, become the squatter myself, I would assume those squatter rights.”
Shelton revealed during the interview that after his father’s death, when the family was trying to sell the house, they encountered the problem of squatters occupying their house illegally. When he called the police, he was told that the law enforcement could do little in such situations.
Shelton said, "I called local law enforcement, and as soon as they saw that there was furniture in the house, they said that I had a squatter situation and they had basically no jurisdiction and they couldn't do anything.”
How did Flash Shelton solve the squatter problem?
Shelton then came up with the ingenious idea of getting back the family’s property by becoming a squatter himself. He further got his mother to write and notarize a lease.
He said, "I packed up my jeep, drove up there and paced out the joint around 4 am I waited.”
Shelton continued, “About 8:00, 8:30 in the morning, three cars pulled out of the driveway and I made entrance to the house. I put up cameras, waited for them to come back.”
"They didn't have a lease, so that never came into play. But when they came back, I just laid it out for them, told them that it was all locked up, cameras, and the only way they would get back in the house is if they broke in on camera, and I would prosecute,” continued Shelton.
Shelton then gave them one day to collect their furniture and vacate the property. “I told them they had a day to get their stuff out or the furniture was not theirs anymore," he said.
Shelton added, "The law would prevent me from physically removing them. However, being that I wasn't the homeowner, I had more rights. As a tenant, I would actually have more rights than them."
What is the squatter law in America?
As per the American Apartment Owners Association, “Squatters rights refer to laws that allow a squatter to use or inhabit another person’s property in the event that the lawful owner does not evict or take action against the squatter.”
They also define a squatter as a person or individual “who decides to inhabit a piece of land or a building in which they have no legal right to occupy.”
Squatters rights become applicable to a person if that individual was living in a property for a specific time. In New York, the squatters may get some rights just after 30 days of stay.
According to Madison Ventures+ managing director Mitch Roschelle, "The laws are written to protect the tenant, not the landlord.”
Roschelle told Fox News, "The local laws that protect tenants at the expense of landlords have fueled this phenomenon because we've basically said forever it's the landlord's fault, not the tenant's fault if the tenant can't pay rent,”
He warned landlords, "The law is not on your side."
How is Flash Shelton helping people?
Shelton not only solved his own family’s squatter problem but is also helping others who are in need. He was found saying, "I do Zoom consultations.”
Shelton said, “I ask people to make a donation to the cause. And when I can physically go out and help them, then yes, it is. It is something I am doing to help people now, as many as I personally possibly can.”
He is also actively trying to change the law as he said, "More importantly to that is I'm trying to change the laws. That's my number one focus.”
“So in helping others right now, since, you know, I feel bad, I can't help everyone, but if we can change the squatter laws, I feel like that's the way I can help everyone.” added the handyman.
He even started a Change.org petition to make squatting illegal. He wrote, "The burden of proof is wrongly placed on the property owner, which turns out to be costly. Some owners even lose their homes."
"Right now, squatting itself is not illegal. This creates a shield and desire to trespass and set up house," continued Shelton.
"In most cases, a break in or trespass must be detected when it is happening for it to be a crime," he continued.