A Philadelphia homeowner was forced to pay $1,200 to get a squatter to vacate his property, as he says the Democrat-run city and even its police force is ‘rewarding criminals.’
The idea of ‘squatters’ rights’ has become a hot-button issue for investors, with states like Florida looking to pass laws to close loopholes that enable them to take over properties.
Chris Harte bought a home in northwest Philadelphia, renovated it and attempted to sell it late in 2023.
That is when a squatter moved in and city officials told him there was little they could do to remove the unwanted tenant.
‘It’s just unbelievable,’ Harte told Fox News Digital. ‘The city is rewarding criminals, basically.’
Chris Harte bought a home in northwest Philadelphia, renovated it and attempted to sell it late in 2023
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On December 8, Harte’s real estate agent got a tip from a neighbor who said they’d hear noises coming from there the night before. The neighbor ended up taking a look, only to see people moving into the house and taking down a ‘for sale’ sign.
Harte, then caught in a bind of having to pick up his children from school and get his wife from the airport, contacted local police.
When he heard back from the cops, they said people were on the premises trying to change the locks.
In addition, because the squatters claimed they were renting out the property, they said they couldn’t do anything about it.
‘I had all my paperwork, purchase and sale agreement, homeowner’s insurance, the deed to the home, everything on me. They said it didn’t matter,’ Harte said of a meeting he had with the police, his realtor and his locksmith the next day.
Police said the squatters’ did indeed have rights and Harte would have to file a landlord-tenant complaint, costing him over $300 and potentially taking up to a year.
Philadelphia police would only confirm Harte had been informed of the issued and confirmed they made no arrests.
‘Squatters’ rights…it’s like an oxymoron,’ Harte scoffed in an interview with Fox News.
‘If I walk into a store and steal a bottle of water, they have me on camera, they’re going to take me to jail. But somebody can break into my house, change the locks and now they have rights.’
On December 8, his real estate agent got a tip from a neighbor who said they’d hear noises coming from there the night before. The neighbor ended up taking a look, only to see people moving into the house and taking down a ‘for sale’ sign
That is when a squatter moved in and city officials told him there was little they could do to remove the unwanted tenant. ‘It’s just unbelievable,’ Harte added. ‘The city is rewarding criminals, basically’
Bob Cervone, a local realtor representing Harte, says these situations are remarkably common in Philadelphia.
‘The police told us that they get three to four calls a day similar to this. I certainly had heard of this happening from other agents, from landlords. But it was my first experience with it.’
The squatters allegedly contacted Cervone and asked for a meeting a few days after Harte confronted police.
They told Harte they had found another place to go but they would only vacate if Harte gave them $2,000.
Harte said he couldn’t give them $2,000 but succumbed to a compromise of $1,200.
Not only had they squatted but the people living there trashed the place.
‘The house was super dirty, trash everywhere,’ he said. ‘Luckily, there was no damage.’
Bob Cervone, a local realtor representing Harte, says these situations are remarkably common in Philadelphia
Police said the squatters’ did indeed have rights and Harte would have to file a landlord-tenant complaint, costing him over $300 and potentially taking up to a year
After hiring a cleaner and changing the locks, he sold the home last week.
‘I had no peace of mind after that,’ he said. ‘I had to keep driving there like every other day just to make sure that nobody’s breaking in.’
He was heavily critical of politicians who run major cities enabling squatters, including Democrat Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker.
‘It’s absolutely preposterous,’ Harte said of the political climate in Philadelphia. ‘They’re not helping investors like myself who want to improve the city, want to buy these homes and fix them up and, you know, make the city a safer, better looking area.’
David Oh, the Republican candidate for mayor against Parker in 2023, accused her of ‘gutting’ protections for landlords when she was on the city council with him, Fox reported.
‘We need different politicians,’ Harte said. ‘I think their policies are terrible, and they’re ruining many cities all throughout America. And Philadelphia is one of them.’
He said that there was a ‘correlation’ between Democrat policies and situations like his, even when Parker ran as a centrist on a law and order ticket.
Parker, 51, who became the city’s first black and female mayor, signed an executive order last week declaring a public safety emergency.
Cherelle Parker, the newly sworn-in 100th mayor of Philadelphia, delivers her inauguration address during the ceremony on Tuesday
Parker is seen swearing in the new police commissioner for Philadelphia, Kevin Bethel
‘I want the world to know that I am fully committed to ending this sense of lawlessness and bringing order back to our city and a sense of lawfulness,’ she said in a speech.
She promised on the campaign trail to hire 300 more police officers, including community officers, and restore ‘constitutional’ stop-and-frisk. She also put forth the idea of making school year-round, to reduce juvenile delinquency.
Her plans will include increasing the number of police officers on the streets with a focus on community policing – a policy she championed when on the city council.
Philadelphia has seen rampant crime in recent years, with violent offenses like robberies and aggravated assaults with guns rising above pre-pandemic levels.
Parker takes over a city where violent crime is declining – homicides are down by more than 20 percent year on year, and non-fatal shootings are down 28 percent.
But Philadelphia in 2020 and 2021 had the grim reputation as one of America’s most dangerous cities, with more than 500 murders each year – significantly more than New York, which is five times as large.
And theft on Philadelphia is rocketing, with reported vehicle theft up 72 percent. Retail theft is also soaring, and has risen 28 percent in the last year.