It is not easy to be financially secure these days with the job market, the economy, and inflation all wreaking havoc on our checkbooks. Many people have had to get creative with their living. One family in Texas might have taken this creativity too far.
Linda Giang accidentally discovered a family of squatters had taken over one of her rental properties. She was shocked to discover what few rights she had as the owner of the property. One of the squatters, Tamisha Holmes-Bey, claimed she had a lease and was paying rent.
Linda went to check on her property and do some yard work. That’s when she made the discovery that someone was living there.
“I had the keys with me and walked in and discovered a family of five living in there. And she says she has a lease contract and actually emailed me the lease contract,” Linda recalled.
Linda asked them to leave. When she returned to the property, she discovered not only had they not left but they changed the locks.
“They locked me out of my own property. That's crazy,” she said. Police initially told her they could not do anything about it because squatters have rights in Texas and this was a civil matter.
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“I don't know what's going on; all I know is that my kids and I moved here to start a new life from California,” Tamisha told ABC. Police eventually got involved when they were shown proof that Tamisha’s lease was forged.
“It was very frustrating, having to deal with this, but now I'm happy she's gone, and I'm hoping legislators will do something and change the law and protect homeowners rather than the squatters,” Linda said.
