Chicago, IL — In a bizarre twist to the ongoing issue of squatter’s rights in Illinois, a homeowner named Marco Velazquez moved into his own property to live alongside alleged squatters after police informed him they could not remove the occupants. This unusual situation, reported by ABC7 Chicago, highlights the complexities and frustrations faced by property owners under current state laws.
Velazquez, the owner of a South Side property listed for sale, discovered that a woman named Shermaine Powell-Gillard and her boyfriend, Codarro, had moved into his home. The couple claimed they had recently purchased the property and presented a mortgage document to police, which Cook County officials later confirmed was not on record. Despite this discrepancy, the police told Velazquez that they were unable to take action due to Illinois’ current laws, which require such matters to be resolved through civil court rather than immediate law enforcement intervention.
Faced with this legal limitation, Velazquez decided to assert his ownership by moving into the property himself. Accompanied by his wife and a few friends, he spent the night in the living room, monitoring the situation while the alleged squatters remained in one of the bedrooms. “I said, ‘I’m not going to leave,'” Velazquez recounted to ABC7. “Called a couple friends, stayed overnight and I knew they were not going to like that.”
The next morning, the situation escalated as the alleged squatters demanded $8,000 to vacate the property. After negotiations, Velazquez agreed to pay them $4,300 under a cash-for-keys agreement, a common but controversial practice where homeowners pay squatters to leave voluntarily. “We didn’t want to give them money, but we heard really bad stories about squatters taking over properties for six, eight, 10 months, even a year,” Velazquez explained, citing the potential for prolonged legal battles and further financial loss, according to the news report on ABC7.
This incident is part of a broader pattern of squatting issues in Illinois, where the lack of clear legal mechanisms for immediate removal has left many homeowners vulnerable. Velazquez’s case is particularly notable because Powell-Gillard, one of the alleged squatters, had previously been arrested and charged with multiple offenses, including burglary and forgery, in connection with another squatting incident involving Marcia and Carlton Lee. Despite these charges, no action had been taken in Velazquez’s case at the time of the report.
The situation has reignited calls for legislative reform in Illinois, where a proposed “Squatter Bill” sponsored by State Representative La Shawn Ford aims to clarify law enforcement’s role in removing trespassers. Ford emphasized the need for stronger protections for property owners, stating, “No one should be powerless in their real estate investment, losing control because of criminals and criminal trespassing.”
Velazquez’s experience underscores the challenges posed by squatter’s rights and the current legal framework in Illinois. As he works with a Chicago police detective hoping for further action, his story serves as a stark reminder of the lengths to which homeowners may go to protect their properties in the absence of swift legal recourse. The balance between property rights and due process remains a contentious issue, with no easy solutions in sight.
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