When a squatter moves in, it’s usually next to impossible to get them back out. Especially since they learned the trick of cooking up a phony lease to back their story in court. They still lose but it takes forever to move an eviction case through the system. When Army Reserve Lieutenant Colonel Dahlia Daure got transferred from Atlanta to Chicago, she put her home up for sale. As soon as she left, a human cockroach moved in and set up housekeeping. She was as frustrated as everyone else but managed to find a near magical solution.
Squatter told to vacate
While away on active duty, a squatter stole her house. It helps being a ranking officer in the Army Reserves when you have dealings with local law enforcement. Lt. Col. Dahlia Daure owns a home in Atlanta, Georgia. She was in the process of selling it and had already found a buyer.
The lieutenant colonel shared that “The buyer got spooked, too. I had to terminate that contract.” Since she’s currently stationed in Chicago, she needs a place there and doesn’t need two.
Daure told local news that “the squatter, Vincent Simon, said he had a lease and paid $19,000 upfront for six months.” He probably typed the whole thing up himself. “That was quite alarming to find out that someone else had moved into my home,” she said Thursday, May 18.
Army officer Lt Colonel Dahlia Daure says Vincent Simon is a squatter who moved into her DeKalb home while she was on duty, now she can’t evict him
It could take months or years in court to evict himhttps://t.co/KBZUhsJNjR pic.twitter.com/MB9UTVZQlQ
— John&HollyQuinn ♿Justice4All #EqualRights #Unity???? (@JohnNHolly30248) May 13, 2023
She followed the usual process and “Simon was served with eviction papers.” She was told “to wait for the process to play out in order to get him removed from the home.” Maybe in a year, if she’s lucky.
That’s when she learned a secret of law in her jurisdiction.
“However, the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office said its Uniform Unit and the DeKalb Marshals served an intruder affidavit Thursday requiring Simon to ‘immediately vacate an Ellenwood home in DeKalb County owned by a military officer.‘” The squatter didn’t know what hit him.
Illegally occupying the residence
According to the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office, “Mr. Simon had been accused of illegally occupying the residence, which had been for sale by the owner while she was deployed with the U.S. Army Reserves in Chicago, Illinois.” The squatter is already gone. “The civil service process was accomplished without incident and Mr. Simon vacated the residence.” He has a new home already, too.
“I used the Georgia 44…title 44 1130 to get him out. A lot of people really don’t know about that. It has to do with the sheriff’s office, though. The police can’t get them out because it’s a civil matter,” she continued. “But had I not gone to the media, I would not have had the opportunity to get my home back today.”
As he was making his way down the driveway, “a weapon was found inside the home and drugs were found on the suspect before he left the premises.” He was promptly taken into custody.
A week after Channel 2 Consumer Investigator Justin Gray first reported on a squatter taking over the home of an active-duty Army officer, Channel 2 Action News is getting results.
Army Lt. Colonel Dahlia Daure is back in possession of her Dekalb County home, and the squatter pic.twitter.com/YEha86lFkj— Lion Eye News ????️ ???? ???? (@LionEyeNews1) May 20, 2023
“Mr. Simon was arrested and charged with Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon and Possession of a Controlled Substance. He was taken into custody and transported to the DeKalb County Jail.” They’ll be happy to give the squatter a lease for 6 months or a year. Maybe longer.
All Lt. Col. Dare knows is that the whole ordeal was “very aggravating.” She had no idea the squatter problem is so far out of control.
“It’s kind of unjust to find out that someone can literally move into your home with a fictitious lease with a company that doesn’t exist. My house was not on the market for rent. It was on the market for sale. I had a contract on the house. And to find out that this person moved into my home right after I got done renovating– it was very aggravating and I was angry.“
