A homeowner in Georgia was arrested and charged with criminal trespass when she tried to move back into her own house, which was reportedly occupied by a squatter, according to WSB-TV.
“To see that woman walk into my mom’s house while I was in the police car, something is wrong with this picture. Something is inherently wrong with this picture,” the homeowner, Loletha Hale, told WSB-TV.
On December 9, Hale went back to her house to tidy up. This was following a judge’s ruling in her favor after a lengthy dispute with Sakemeyia Johnson, the supposed squatter.
According to WSB-TV, the police stated that Hale carried out an unlawful eviction and forcefully removed Ms. Johnson’s belongings.
“I spent the night on a mat on a concrete floor in deplorable conditions. While this woman, this squatter slept in my home,” Hale told the outlet.
The judge confirmed with the police that Hale did not possess a “signed writ of possession,” which is a legal requirement to evict Johnson.
“She just caught up out of nowhere. She had this guy with him, and I locked the door. I locked the screen door, and he forced himself in telling us to get out,” Johnson told the police of the incident.
According to Hale, she believed that Johnson had left the house after she was awarded the win in court in November.
“I returned on Monday to start painting and she had broken the locks at my property,” Hale said.
According to WSB-TV, Johnson has not faced any criminal charges.
In recent years, the number of squatter cases being brought to court in Georgia has increased.
According to a report from the Pacific Legal Foundation, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of squatter cases being brought to court since 2019. In Georgia specifically, the number of these cases has risen from three in 2017 to 50 in 2021. This upward trend highlights the growing issue of squatting and the need for legal actions to address it.
According to the report, the Peach State saw a total of 198 civil court cases related to squatting in 2023.
The Clayton County Police Department did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment immediately.
