Man forced out of his house by judge after squatter 'friends' moved into his garage and refused to leave

Wednesday, September 18, 2024 - A judge has ordered a homeowner in Kentucky, USA to vacate his home after a fight with alleged squatters who refused to leave the property.

Across the US, reports of squatters are rising as many homeowners feel their rights have been limited since the covid pandemic and a surge of tenant protections.

A man who offered his visiting friends his garage to work on their car after it broke down, has now been forced out of his house after they refused to leave.

Homeowner, Daniel Toma said the pair of friends were visiting him during the summer when their car broke down. He offered his garage as a place for them to stay while they worked on it.

"I just want this nightmare to end. I've been homeless the last few days," Toma told WSAZ 3.

The reported squatters were Toma's friends Amy Davis and her boyfriend, Tyler Sencuk. 

'Working on the car for days in the driveway, I didn't want to throw them out on the street. I was trying to be kind,' he said.

But in mid-July, the couple brought a mattress into the garage, set up a Spectrum box and then changed the locks. They eventually started getting mail and refused to leave, telling Toma they had 'squatter' rights.

Toma said he didn't want them to be there and he didn't receive any rent payments.

'I asked them to go, my roommates asked them to go, they wouldn't leave.'

'We tried to tell them to leave.'

Around US Labor Day, Toma put up a 30-day eviction notice which further escalated tensions and prompted the squatters to get more angry

Sencuk and one of Toma's roommates then got into a fight, resulting in Sencuk filing for an emergency protective order against Toma.

According to Fox 19 news, once the protective order was granted, Toma was forced to stay 500 feet away from them or his house.

The protective order claimed Toma was Sencuk's roommate. He had told the judge he did pay rent in the form of 'maintenance' and the judge took his word for it.

'I feel like I have no power. I feel like I have no rights,' said Toma, who has an upcoming court date to challenge the protective order, 'I just want to sleep in my own bed.'

Ryan McCall, principal with McCall Sweeney & Silva, PC and an expert in eviction law, told Newsweek;

"Unfortunately, what is occurring here is all too common when it comes to squatters in the United States,"

"Almost every state has its own individual laws regarding Squatters. Unfortunately, once a squatter is able to assert their rights, they often can resort to filing criminal reports against the actual Homeowner to temporarily remove them from the property.