A Chicago homeowner grew so fed up with a group of alleged squatters who refused to leave his property that he decided to move in with them.
Marco Velazquez, who owns the property in the South Side of the Windy City, had been preparing to sell the home when his estate agent discovered a couple inside it.
Shermaine Powell-Gillard and her boyfriend Codarro claimed that they had purchased the home, according to ABC7.
Velazquez told the outlet that the couple showed police officers who were called to the address documents claiming they had a mortgage for the address.
A search of county records indicated however that no mortgage record actually existed.
Officers on the scene told Velazquez there was nothing they could do for him, due to state laws, and that he would need to take them to civil court. He then decided to move in.
His wife and his friends joined him for the overnight, he added: We stayed in the living room, we were watching the door at all times.
[The couple] stayed in one of the bedrooms. At one point theyve got to leave, theyve got to get tired of us being in the property.
After officers on the scene told Velazquez there was nothing they could do for him, and that he would need to take them to court – he decided to move in
His wife and his friends joined him inside the property in the South Side of the city for the night, in a standoff with the couple
The next morning the couple told Velazquez that they would accept $8,000 in exchange for them vacating the address.
He had them sign an agreement and managed to negotiate them down, paying them $4,300 to leave the abode.
Under Illinois state law, officers are not allowed to remove anyone from a home.
Newsweek reported that a loophole exists that gives squatters legal standing to possess real estate owned by property owners.
Velazquez added: We didnt want to give them money, but we heard really bad stories about squatters taking over properties for six, eight, 10 months, even a year.
A few weeks after the standoff, Valezquez told the outlet that an officer informed him that Powell-Gillard is accused of squatting at another property.
In that incident, she was arrested and charged with burglary, forgery, obstructing identification and criminal residential trespassing.
He added: I heard stories before about squatters. I never thought it would happen to me.
Shermaine Powell-Gillard and her boyfriend Codarro, seen here, claimed that they had purchased the home
Powell-Gillard told ABC7 that she is not a squatter and rejected any idea of such a title, saying they were false and unfounded. No charges have been filed in the case of Velazquez.
Lawmakers in Chicago are attempting to make changes to laws around property rights, Newsweek reported.
Officials are considering revisions to how law enforcement can approach such incidents.
A proposed Squatter Bill sponsored by State Representative La Shawn Ford was passed in the state Senate and is awaiting further action.
He told the outlet: I am distraught by the situation that Marco Velazquez has faced.
This incident is a stark reminder of the challenges that many property owners encounter across Illinois.
