Squatters Issues Highlighted by Conviction of Former NBA Player Chris Gatling
Provided by HG.org
Squatting is the act of taking over custody and possession of someone else's real estate without permission. It can often be difficult to oust squatters, and in many jurisdictions, if the squatter does things in a certain fashion, they may even be able to take away ownership of the property through a process called adverse possession.
With that backdrop, we turn to the interesting story of Chris Gatling, former power forward for the National Basketball Association's Miami Heat franchise. Like many professional athletes, former NBA All-Star Chris Gatling lived large in his retirement. The only problem with that lifestyle: he was not living in his own home.
According to police reports, Gatling broke into an unoccupied, furnished home in the upscale suburban neighborhood of Paradise Valley in Phoenix, Arizona in July 2010. He stayed there until August 2011, obtaining an Arizona driver's license with the address of the home in which he was squatting.
After about a year in the four-bedroom home, Gatling apparently became restless and decided to try to rent the purloined home at a bargain discount rate. He posted an ad on popular classified listing site Craigslist, offering to rent the luxury four bedroom home for just $800 including utilities. According to the ad, Gatline intended to travel extensively, and wanted a woman to rent the home because he preferred “Women's touch.”
Stacey Ezel could not pass up this steal of a deal, and contacted Gatling. Ezel signed a lease and wrote Gatling two cashier’s checks for $800 each to cover the security deposit and first month’s rent. But when Gatling failed to turn over the keys, Ezel became suspicious, looked up the property on the county assessor’s website, and discovered that the home actually belonged to Priscilla Jones who was living in California. Ezel contacted Jones, who, in turn, called the police. Gatling was arrested and recently plead guilty to one count of forgery and one count of theft. He will be sentenced Oct. 4, but is expected to get supervised probation and be ordered to pay restitution to Jones and Ezel.
Jones has reportedly sold her Paradise Valley home now that Gatling has moved out.
The case illustrates the interesting problem of squatters. Gatling was obviously able to live quite comfortably in a home that he had no right to for over a year. So comfortable, he was able to get a license and almost rented the house. Had Jones, the rightful homeowner, come to visit the property and discovered Gatling in the property, could she have simply called the police and had a trespasser arrested? Probably not.
Since Gatling had managed to change his address and start receiving mail at the property, the law might have considered him a sort of tenant. To remove him from the property, Jones would probably have been forced to go through the eviction process. Indeed, if Gatling had managed to remain in the property long enough, he may have been entitled to actual ownership of the property through a process called adverse possession.
Under the concept of adverse possession, if one enters upon the property of another, lives in the property in an open manner without the permission of the rightful owner, makes improvements on the property, remains in possession of the property continuously for a set period of time (usually 7 to 10 years depending on the jurisdiction), and, in most jurisdictions, pays the property taxes for the land, that person becomes the rightful owner of the property.
If an owner tends to be away from a particular property for extended periods such that there is a real risk of acquiring a squatter, there are some very simple measures that can prevent this. One of the easiest is to install a security system, particularly one with some form of Internet-based video monitoring. Many such systems are very inexpensive and can be monitored by the owner from anywhere in the world. If someone does break into the property, the owner can quickly call the police and have the intruder arrested as a trespasser before they can make the connections to the property that would entitle them to any tenant rights.
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Disclaimer: While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this publication, it is not intended to provide legal advice as individual situations will differ and should be discussed with an expert and/or lawyer. For specific technical or legal advice on the information provided and related topics, please contact the author.
According to police reports, Gatling broke into an unoccupied, furnished home in the upscale suburban neighborhood of Paradise Valley in Phoenix, Arizona in July 2010. He stayed there until August 2011, obtaining an Arizona driver's license with the address of the home in which he was squatting.
After about a year in the four-bedroom home, Gatling apparently became restless and decided to try to rent the purloined home at a bargain discount rate. He posted an ad on popular classified listing site Craigslist, offering to rent the luxury four bedroom home for just $800 including utilities. According to the ad, Gatline intended to travel extensively, and wanted a woman to rent the home because he preferred “Women's touch.”
Stacey Ezel could not pass up this steal of a deal, and contacted Gatling. Ezel signed a lease and wrote Gatling two cashier’s checks for $800 each to cover the security deposit and first month’s rent. But when Gatling failed to turn over the keys, Ezel became suspicious, looked up the property on the county assessor’s website, and discovered that the home actually belonged to Priscilla Jones who was living in California. Ezel contacted Jones, who, in turn, called the police. Gatling was arrested and recently plead guilty to one count of forgery and one count of theft. He will be sentenced Oct. 4, but is expected to get supervised probation and be ordered to pay restitution to Jones and Ezel.
Jones has reportedly sold her Paradise Valley home now that Gatling has moved out.
The case illustrates the interesting problem of squatters. Gatling was obviously able to live quite comfortably in a home that he had no right to for over a year. So comfortable, he was able to get a license and almost rented the house. Had Jones, the rightful homeowner, come to visit the property and discovered Gatling in the property, could she have simply called the police and had a trespasser arrested? Probably not.
Since Gatling had managed to change his address and start receiving mail at the property, the law might have considered him a sort of tenant. To remove him from the property, Jones would probably have been forced to go through the eviction process. Indeed, if Gatling had managed to remain in the property long enough, he may have been entitled to actual ownership of the property through a process called adverse possession.
Under the concept of adverse possession, if one enters upon the property of another, lives in the property in an open manner without the permission of the rightful owner, makes improvements on the property, remains in possession of the property continuously for a set period of time (usually 7 to 10 years depending on the jurisdiction), and, in most jurisdictions, pays the property taxes for the land, that person becomes the rightful owner of the property.
If an owner tends to be away from a particular property for extended periods such that there is a real risk of acquiring a squatter, there are some very simple measures that can prevent this. One of the easiest is to install a security system, particularly one with some form of Internet-based video monitoring. Many such systems are very inexpensive and can be monitored by the owner from anywhere in the world. If someone does break into the property, the owner can quickly call the police and have the intruder arrested as a trespasser before they can make the connections to the property that would entitle them to any tenant rights.
Copyright HG.org - Google+
Disclaimer: While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this publication, it is not intended to provide legal advice as individual situations will differ and should be discussed with an expert and/or lawyer. For specific technical or legal advice on the information provided and related topics, please contact the author.
