SQUATTERS have gone to extreme lengths to stay on a landowner’s property, including suing him for thousands of dollars amid a four-year eviction battle.
David Morris wants to build affordable housing on his Atlanta property, but a group of squatters are doing everything in their power to stop it.
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“It’s frustrating that I’m having to spend so much money. I spent $10,000 on cleaning up garbage from vagrants,” Morris told local Fox affiliate WAGA-TV.
He previously had a non-profit that he allowed four people to live at if they maintained the property.
However, in 2020, he had to shut down the non-profit but the people refused to leave.
“The people who were living on the land started having other people live on the land, their friends,” Morris said.
“I tried to file eviction, and the city of Atlanta said, ‘Sorry, we have a moratorium on evictions right now.’”
For the last four years, at least eight people have been living on Morris’s land rent-free.
One person even took things a step further and attempted to file a counter-claim against him for $190,000.
“That was dismissed, and that counter-claim, because they didn’t show up in court,” Morris explained.
“So, it will take, I am predicting, another 30 days before the marshals will call me to schedule a time for me to have five people here to move everything from there to the street.”
Morris’s land has become a hot commodity for squatters.
Last year, over two dozen people were detained on Morris’s property after activists against the construction of the planned Atlanta Public Safety Training Center set up camps to protest.
At the time, Morris was living in California but was informed about the situation.
“The entire medical staff of ‘Stop Cop City’ camped on this land. There was about 30 campers and the police came in and pulled them out of their tents,” said Morris, who says he has no political ties to the situation.
“I’m neutral, yeah, I’m not on either side.”
Despite the years of trouble, Morris is one step closer to removing the trespassers from his land.
According to his attorney, David Perrie, Morris was granted a Writ of Possession on March 21. This is a court order for landlords who are looking to terminate a tenant’s right to possession when they refuse to leave.
Morris is hoping to make major changes to stop this from ever happening to him again.
“We’re going to build just a big fence here and a gate and put no trespassing signs. I’m not going to build it until all of the tenants are out,” said Morris.
“You know, start getting this place cleaned up.”
Unfortunately, homeowners around the country have been dealing with people illegally living in their homes.
The U.S. Sun previously reported about Adele Andaloro, who was arrested for changing the locks on her property after squatters claimed to have lived there for months.
“I’m really fearful that these people are going to get away with stealing my home,” the homeowner told ABC news affiliate WABC.
“It’s enraging. It’s not fair that I, as the homeowner, have to be going through this.”
The U.S. Sun has reached out to David Perrie for comment.
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