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A squatter has judges and lawyers for breakfast here... They basically had to break the law by cause damage to the property in an attempt to make his idea of living uncomfortable for him
Imagine that...
Neighbors find Detroit squatter tough to dislodge
Detroit — Nine years ago, the six-bedroom, brick and stone Tudor Revival in the city's Palmer Woods neighborhood sold for almost $480,000.
So neighbors got suspicious when its new occupant pulled up in a U-Haul last fall and used garbage bags to block the windows of the 4,400-square-foot house.
Thus began an elaborate cat-and-mouse game between some of the city's most elite residents — including judges and lawyers — and a man prosecutors allege is a serial squatter. For eight months, residents badgered a bank that owned the foreclosed home, persuaded utilities to shut off power, blocked the driveway with large rocks and put glue in the front door lock to keep the squatter out.
"The judges were calling here trying to see what we could do," said Anthony Cartwright, a broker whose firm, North American Real Estate, markets the home for Fannie Mae. "I said, 'You're a judge.'"
Residents won last week when prosecutors charged Clarence Boykin Jr., 53, with 11 felonies accusing him of filing false ownership paperwork on three houses, including two in Palmer Woods. A not-guilty plea was entered on his behalf Tuesday at Wayne County Circuit Court and he remains jailed.
Experts say the battle demonstrates the severity of the squatting problem in foreclosure-ravaged Detroit and the lengths homeowners must go to oust illegal occupants. It's an issue throughout the city where banks have taken possession of more than 41,000 foreclosed homes from 2007 to 2011, according to RealtyTrac.
Even Detroit's finest neighborhoods aren't immune, and the odds are stacked against neighbors.
Fannie Mae couldn't evict Boykin from the six-bedroom house because the foreclosure was recent. By law, owners have six months to reclaim foreclosed property. And Boykin filed paperwork claiming it was his, Cartwright said.
Cartwright's firm even offered the squatter $4,000 to leave for "relocation assistance." He refused.
"He (Boykin) said he was going to court to get the property," Cartwright said. "There's always a loophole, which he followed.
"He was one of the smart ones."
Boykin isn't talking. During his first court hearing Tuesday, he fired his court-appointed attorney, James O'Donnell, and refused to tell Judge Kevin Robbins his name.
"You would use my name against me so I plead the Fifth," Boykin said. Robbins found him in contempt and sent him back to jail for another 30 days. Boykins faces up to 14 years in prison if convicted.
The house on Balmoral became vacant last summer when its owner walked away from a mortgage, said Rochelle Lento, an attorney who has lived in the area for 20 years. The Palmer Woods Neighborhood Association closely monitors the roughly 10 vacant houses of about 300 in the area off Woodward Avenue near Seven Mile because members feel a responsibility to the historic homes, she said.
When the man showed up in a moving truck, neighbors tracked down the former owner to see if he had sold it. He hadn't. Efforts by The News to reach the former owner were unsuccessful.
Residents started working with law enforcement officials to build a case. While authorities investigated, residents tried to discourage the squatter.
They successfully urged DTE to shut off gas and electric service, Lento said. DTE Energy spokesman John Austerberry said he isn't familiar with the case, but the utility cuts service when notified of illegal hookups or if previous owners request it.
Neighbor Abe Gurewitz said he used a ladder to peek in behind the garbage bags and saw piles of construction debris. Frustrated, he spent a day placing large rocks in the driveway to keep the squatter out.
Another neighbor tried to glue the locks, Gurewitz said.
"We have no way to know what the person is doing in the house," Lento said. "We are trying to protect the assets in the neighborhood. People really do care about the neighborhood and will be proactive."
When the squatter spoke with neighbors, he insisted he "had every right to be there," Gurewitz said.
Boykin allegedly filed paperwork with the Register of Deeds claiming he entered the address "peacefully" and "will not abandon … (the) private property under duress by the City of Detroit Police and unknown sources."
Prosecutors also allege he filed paperwork claiming rights to another house in Palmer Woods on Seven Mile. County records indicate Boykin filed an "Affidavit of Adverse Possession According to the Holy Bible."
Prosecutors also allege he filed false papers and moved into a house on Oakman in northwest Detroit. It's unclear whether he was allegedly living in the three houses at the same time.
Prosecutors and Cartwright credit the vigilance of the Palmer Woods neighbors in ousting the squatter. But the process is often frustrating to neighbors who have few options beyond contacting homes' owners or petitioning utilities to shut off service, said Michael Brady, vice president of policy for the Center for Community Progress, a nonprofit which focuses on vacant properties.
"You don't have standing to report a person as a squatter because you don't own the house," Brady said.
One way to get squatters out quicker is to go to court and reduce the foreclosure redemption period, but the neighbors weren't able to get that clearance in the Balmoral house, Cartwright said.
"If you do it right, you can hold it up for six months," he said. "The neighbors really stayed on top of (it)."
Cartwright said the inside of the house wasn't damaged and there's been a lot of interest from prospective buyers. He said he expects a bidding war when the house, which has yet to be priced, goes up for sale.
From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120530/METRO01/205300358#ixzz1wN9yxl6I Lies run sprints.
Truths run marathons.
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