Flash Shelton, known professionally as the ‘Squatter Hunter,’ revealed the most brazen cases he’s encountered in his storied career as a squatter-remover.
As squatters continue to hijack homes and buildings across the United States, some are growing so emboldened that they even rent out the captive houses on short-term rental platforms like Airbnb.
Hired by embattled homeowners to try to flush illegal residents from their properties, Shelton said has come across squatters who use Airbnb, first to access the house, and then to rent it out.
‘I’m seeing squatters taking over [homes on Airbnb] a lot,’ he said in a recent interview.
‘Matter of fact,’ he continued; ‘I even see people get into the property and then try to make money by Airbnb-ing it out.’
Flash Shelton, known professionally as the ‘Squatter Hunter,’ warned that Airbnb hosts can fall prey to devious squatters
Hired by embattled homeowners to try to flush illegal residents from their properties, Shelton said has come across squatters who use Airbnb, first to access the house, and then to rent it out. Georgia has suffered keenly during the squatting crisis- an estimated 1,200 homes are currently possessed by squatters. In one Georgia home, squatters smashed all the furniture they didn’t want
Shelton, whose day job is as a handyman in California, said that the squatters’ M.O. involves creating new profiles with services such as Airbnb, and then renting out a property for a certain period of time based on a daily fee.
Once they have rented the properties, though, the squatters make their move. They insinuate themselves and re-list the homes as if they were their legitimate owners.
‘There was one [squatter] recently in Seattle that was doing that,’ Shelton said in an interview with the New York Post.
‘And there’s one in Woodland Hills [California],’ he continued, before noting that there was a further example of an Airbnb-related incident in Brentwood.
In a statement, Airbnb defended its reputation, dismissing issues with squatters as ‘very rare.’
Shelton warns against making agreements with guests outside of the Airbnb app. Once business is conducted outside of the app, Airbnb is no longer legally responsible
‘We strongly encourage our users to only book and pay on Airbnb where we have measures in place to support our community, including identity verification of booking guests and 24/7 customer support,’ the company told the Post.
But according to Shelton, wily squatters often convince unsuspecting homeowners to conduct business outside of the app.
The ‘Squatter Hunter’ explained that squatters will book accommodations through the application for a week.
Then they will contact the homeowners and provide them with some invented reason for why they need to stay at the property for a few more days.
According to Shelton, the squatters offer excuses like, ‘I don’t have a place to go. I need a couple more days. Or we were leaving but my car broke down, and we can’t leave yet. I just need a couple more days to get my car fixed.’
Sympathetic homeowners often agree to let the guests remain in their house.
But if the homeowner agrees to an extension outside of the app, Shelton said that Airbnb is no longer on the hook and is released from its contract with the two parties.
Squatting has plagued cities across the country, but especially in Atlanta, where some squatters removed furniture from a homeowner’s house
‘So Airbnb walks away, wipes their hands clean [and decides it is] no longer their problem,’ Shelton said.
And soon after the guest has ensconced themselves in the Airbnb property, squatters’ rights are activated.
‘Now that homeowner has a squatter,’ Shelton observed.
The ‘Squatter Hunter’ believes that Airbnb and services like it should take more initiative and shoulder more responsibility.
‘I believe Airbnb should take more responsibility for a screening process,’ Shelton said.
He continued: ‘And I think that Airbnb should vet the [customers] more because homeowners are assuming these people are trusted because they’re getting them from Airbnb.’
But Shelton deals with all types of squatters, not just those who infiltrate homes using Airbnb.
In order to drive illegal tenants out of homes, Shelton often goes under cover and masquerades as a fellow squatter.
Then Shelton installs cameras throughout the property and tells the squatters that they are on a reality show in the hopes that it will scare them off.
Squatters in one Atlanta home left trash all over the property, leaving the homeowner to pick it up. Shelton, the ‘Squatter Hunter’ performs a ‘lock out’ to get rid of squatters. This involves getting the landlord to draw up a lease making him the tenant, allowing him to enter their property legally.
An Atlanta homeowner was forced to clean up a mess left by riotous squatters.
His favored method, though, is a ‘lock out.’ This involves getting the landlord to draw up a lease making him the tenant, allowing him to enter their property legally.
Shelton then stakes out the home for several days, learning the habits of the squatter through surveillance and interviews with neighbors.
When their guard is down, or if they have temporarily left the property, he takes his chance, hurrying inside and changing the locks.
He says this works in around 90 per cent of cases.
But sometimes the squatter never gives an inch. They get their supplies through online deliveries, or work in a group so that someone is always on duty.
The squatters left behind an emaciated pit bull on the deck at the rear of the property. The terrified animal, barking furiously, can be seen eventually being captured by welfare authorities in video obtained by DailyMail.com
In these scenarios, Flash goes toe-to-toe with his targets. He becomes their housemate, roommate, worst-nightmare, and starts to out-squat the squatters.
He or his team begin by telling the police of their plan in anticipation of a potentially hostile confrontation.
Flash then researches everything he can about his targets, from names and ages to criminal histories.
Armed with their identities, he enters the home and installs Ring cameras throughout the property to record his every interaction with the squatter.
After a day or two, he has usually spooked them sufficiently to force them out.
Sheree Bailey is accused of being one of the squatters who invaded the vacant Atlanta area rental home of a man caring for his sick wife. She tilts her head and squints down the sights of a gun in a photo posted to her Instagram
While trespassing is illegal in every state, laws concerning squatters’ rights vary by state. Many places depend on civil courts to handle property disputes, enabling squatters to game the system.
This has culminated in a veritable squatting crisis in cities across the country. According to the National Rental Home Council, Atlanta has been hit the hardest, with 1,200 homes currently illegally occupied.
The situation has become so dire that some homeowners offer to pay off squatters to get them out of their homes – rather than risk losing months of rent.
In October, an Atlanta home was taken over by squatters who ran an illegal strip club inside on weekends and kept horses on the property.
The FBI had to get involved and arrested four people who had taken up residence at 4951 Wewatta Street in South Fulton without permission.
The 4,000 square foot five bed home with three bathrooms was trashed by the squatters.
In March, some squatters trashed the Stone Mountain home of truck driver Paul Callins, who was away tending his sick wife, Amanda, in the hospital.
Paul Callins discovered squatters had unlawfully entered and changed the locks on his recently refurbished home, listed for rent online, while he was away
Stone Mountain is 20 miles from downtown Atlanta.
Dailymail.com revealed that the identity of one of the squatters was Takisha Bailey, whose social media pictures showed her posing with an apparent machine pistol on her Instagram.
Callins’s squatters had a starved-looking Pitbull at his home, but callously left it behind when they fled. It was later captured by animal welfare on the home’s decking, where it had been abandoned.
Before the Squatters abandoned the home, which had originally belonged to Callin’s father, they trashed the place and smashed their unwanted furniture out front.
New York has also faced its fair share of squatter drama.
Last month, Brian Rodriguez, a high-rolling squatter in Queens was charged after allegedly hijacking a $1 million home and renting out its bedrooms.
The rightful homeowner, Adele Andaloro, who inherited the property in Flushing, changed the locks in an effort to drive Rodriguez out.
The squatter retaliated by claiming he was the actual tenant and had Andaloro escorted off the premises in handcuffs.
Brian Rodriguez, seen here, was indicted on Thursday on charges of burglary, grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property, criminal trespass and criminal mischief
Rodriguez had homeowner Andaloro dramatically handcuffed and led off the $1 million property after claiming that he was the legal tenant
Rodriguez eventually was indicted on charges of burglary, grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property, criminal trespass and criminal mischief.
If convicted, Rodriguez could face up to 15 years behind bars.’
The ‘Squatter Hunter’ believes the solution to the squatting epidemic lies in tougher laws.
‘I want squatters to be treated as criminals,’ Shelton said, adding that he wants to see them ‘go through criminal courts.’