Victims told Fox News' Lawrence Jones that squatters have 'totally destroyed' their properties
Lawrence Jones gets firsthand look at squatter crisis in Atlanta
Kesha Chedeaux, who has been the victim of squatters in Atlanta, joined 'Fox & Friends' to discuss firsthand how squatters have impacted her property and others across the city.
Squatters are wreaking havoc on Atlanta-area communities, turning properties into dens for drugs and prostitution while inflicting thousands of dollars in damages.
"The last incident that I had, there was a squatter there who totally destroyed the place," Kesha Chedeaux, a real estate agent and one of the squatters' victims, told Fox News' Lawrence Jones Thursday.
"One has went to jail. They sold the appliances from the property and received money for them. Selling appliances, [there's] feces everywhere, [they're] sleeping in the beds because these properties are staged on the market."
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An Atlanta property owner says squatters ripped wires out of the walls and caused tens of thousands of dollars worth of damage. (Fox News)
Jones traveled to the Peach State to speak to people on both sides of the crisis, including knocking on the door of one alleged squatter who claimed her family was the victim of a Craigslist scam.
"My son – he's in jail. He was paying these people every month. The police have already been out here. They’re going to send me a court date for me to come to court," the 63-year-old inhabitant claimed.
"I paid last month, but they [the police] told me don't pay this month," she said, claiming the family had been making payments for nine months to the Craigslist contact.
"They showed us the house, gave us the keys and everything…" she continued. "I'm getting out of here soon."
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But for those unwilling to leave, Chedeaux said removing them isn't so simple.
"First and foremost, it's dangerous. People that are doing that ultimately have no fear because they're taking possession of your property without your consent…" she said.
"They've actually broken into the property, putting these ads on Craigslist, and then they're taking people's money for deposit and rent, and then they don't get access to the property. So that's another thing of them getting scammed."
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Another Georgia property owner told Jones the squatters on her property refused to leave when asked.
"They acted like I was doing something wrong. There was prostitution. There was drug selling, drug usage, everything. This went on for months. They broke in through the walls, through the doors, through the windows," the victim told Jones.
The squatters took the copper from the home's HVAC system and pulled the furnace out of the attic.
"When they pulled it out, the framing was damaged. So it cost me $13,000 to reframe this hallway," she said.
In total, she estimated the ordeal forced her to shell out approximately $30,000 for damage repairs.
The squatters also cut the wires in the home, damaged the siding and left a gaping hole in the wall. The owner was forced to install a lock system on the house's doors and windows to prevent people from invading again, but said that decision poses another problem.
"It also hurts me because it deters buyers. They want to know, ‘Why do you have to have these on the windows?’" she said.
Taylor Penley is an associate editor with Fox News.
