An anti-squatter activist has turned the tables on the illegal intruders, telling Newsmax on Monday he "figured out: how to "use the rights against them" after his own mother became a target.
California handyman Flash Shelton, who founded the United Handyman Association, told "National Report" that "homeowners are never presumed to be the resident and that's what causes this, since homeowners in many cases are renting their homes out — so a squatter is always presumed the resident."
"Back when my mom's home was taken over I figured out … a way to use the rights against them," he recounted. "If they could take a house, I could take a house."
"I do it humanely," he continued. "We're not throwing people out. We go in …we'll do either a lockout, we'll switch possession. One of the ways that people can help us — because my influence in many cases helps — just subscribing to my YouTube channel helps."
According to Shelton, "If I can show that I can influence their lives and influence them to move out, basically, based on the fact that I'm going to expose them to the world. So just simply subscribing to my channel is making a huge difference."
In his mom's case, Shelton related that from around 4 a.m. to 8-8:30 am, "I witnessed three cars go out of the driveway, including these people, and they wanted to tell me that their furniture was accidentally delivered."
"I watched seven people, five men and two women walk out of my mom's house. And you know, I'm certified in de-escalation. So the last thing I'm gonna do is sit there and argue with somebody. I'm just gonna, you know, be nice to them and do everything I can to … persuade them to do whatever I need them to do."
He said he no longer does it alone, however.
"I have manpower," he said. "I know everything about them. I do everything I can to stream a lot of surveillance, find out their routines …. who they are, if they have a criminal background."
"I'm trained, physically and mentally," he added, but concedes, "there's a lot of times — a lot of sitting in a car."
In some cases, he noted, he can even legally change the locks.
"So I'll go in. I'll change the locks. I'll wait for them to return," he explained. "I will inform them of what their rights are, and now they have the right to take us to civil court to fight to get back into the house."
But he adds: "My philosophy is I'd rather have them fight to get back in and prove that they have a legal right to be there, than the homeowners spend a whole lot of time and money fighting to get them out."
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Fran Beyer ✉
Fran Beyer is a writer with Newsmax and covers national politics.
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