Atlanta ‘squatter hunter’ fights back against ‘terrorist’ home invaders overrunning Georgia city – and shares secret to kicking out illegal tenants before they trash your house
A handyman turned squatter hunter argues that squatting should be reclassified as a “terrorist act” amid Atlanta’s unwanted tenant crisis.
Homes in the Atlanta area are being turned into prostitution and drug dens as squatters take over vacant properties.
More than 1,200 homes have been overtaken by squatters and landlords have to evict unwanted residents themselves or wait months for the police.
Flash Shelton, founder of the United Handyman Association and SquatterHunters.com, had his first experience evicting squatters when they infiltrated his mother’s home last year.
Two women took over the Simi Valley home after his mother put it up for sale after his father’s death.
A handyman turned squatter hunter argues that squatting should be reclassified as a ‘terrorist act’ amid Atlanta’s home invasion crisis
Two women took over the Simi Valley home after his mother put it up for sale after his father’s death
One day Shelton had to wait for the women to step out of the house, and then he came in and forbade them from re-entering.
Law enforcement couldn’t help Shelton because of the complex laws surrounding squatters’ rights – so he took matters into his own hands
Law enforcement couldn’t help Shelton because of the complex laws surrounding squatters’ rights, so he took matters into his own hands.
He spent days studying the laws and managed to get rid of the women by drawing up a lease agreement with his mother that designated him as the legal resident of the house.
One day Shelton had to wait for the women to step out of the house, and then he came in and forbade them to re-enter.
The expert offers his squatter removal services to others struggling with unwanted residents and has successfully helped several landlords in California.
He now provides advice to homeowners in the Atlanta area caught up in the squatter crisis.
‘It was never the intention that squatters’ rights would make the takeover of maintained homes possible. Until we make it criminal, it’s just going to keep happening.”
“My advice to Atlanta property owners would be the same as to any property owner,” Shelton said. “First of all, know your laws, know your rights and think safely. This is your house, I understand, but this is property and it’s not worth your life.’
In October, a house in Atlanta was taken over by squatters who ran an illegal strip club on weekends and kept horses on the property.
The FBI had to intervene and arrested four people who had moved into 4951 Wewatta Street in South Fulton without permission.
The 4,000-square-foot house with five bedrooms and three bathrooms was destroyed by the squatters.
Exclusive photos show the property at 4951 Wewatta Street in South Fulton, Atlanta, where four squatters allegedly ran an illegal strip club
A SWAT team arrested the four squatters after neighbors complained about the stench of marijuana, gunshots and live horses on the property
Photos from inside after the FBI cleared the house showed the hallways eerily empty, except for a cartoonish green lizard painted on a wall.
The trash was strewn with a half-full water bottle, a crumpled plastic bag and a bottle of Pink Whitney – the popular lemonade-infused vodka – on top of a railing.
Neighbors said they ran a strip club on weekends, loud parties and car races in the streets.
A neighbor said: ‘They would get live horses. One day they had live horses.”
Four young men – DeAnthony Maddox, Jeremy Wheat, Kelvin Hall and Tarahsjay Forde – were arrested at the scene.
All four were booked into the Fulton County Jail on multiple charges, including several counts of theft by receiving stolen property.
Shelton says squatters who have turned buildings into drug houses are bringing a whole new element to neighborhoods that don’t know how to adapt to the danger.
The dangers associated with illegal activities, such as drugs and prostitution, pose safety risks for children, the elderly and everyone else, Shelton explains.
Law enforcement agencies are not equipped to deal with these situations, and their hands are tied as they cannot legally intervene in most cases.
“As soon as the police say there’s nothing we can do, I would say contact me or someone like me because there are alternatives to sitting in civil court for a year,” Shelton said.
The only thing law enforcement officers are legally allowed to do when confronting squatters is remain on the premises to maintain security.
Shelton said he would exercise that one right and make sure he stayed in the house while the squatters were there.
The massive 4,300-square-foot estate where Vincent Simon is picked up has five beds and five bathrooms, Zillow states, and is valued at around $495,000.
Lt. Col. Dahlia Daure said a man with a lengthy criminal history squatted in her Atlanta-area home while she was on active duty and is refusing to move.
Last year, deployed Lt. Col. Dahlia Daure said she felt “violated” when she heard a man squatting in her home while she was on active duty.
Daure told local media that Vincent Simon – a man convicted of weapons, drugs and theft – was living in her $500,000 home.
The Army officer had been away from her Ellenwood residence on duty in Chicago – and only found out he had moved in when the house was about to be sold.
‘I felt violated. If I had not served my country, I would have been in my house,” Daure said WSB TV.