OAN’s Brooke Mallory
1:59 PM – Sunday, June 18, 2023
A public-school teacher in Texas and her family, who had reportedly been squatting in a large Houston home for months, have finally moved out following a court order.
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Fourth grade Houston Independent School District teacher Amberlyn Prather and her family members moved themselves into a Houston residence in January and lived there until this month, purportedly faking a lease agreement, ABC 13 reported.
“It’s insane,” said realtor Shanequa Garrett of the squatting situation.
Garrett told reporters that she was hired to sell the Houston property but has been unable to access the residence since January because of the family’s refusal to let her in.
The frustrated realtor claimed that she had to go to court multiple times to attempt to convince the family to move out, but was informed by officials that the issue was a civil matter. A court last month finally agreed with Garrett that the family was fraudulently dwelling in the residence and that Prather’s claimed lease agreement was phony.
The 4th grade public-school teacher and her family finally moved out on June 15th, when the judge ordered her to evacuate the premises by the beginning of this month.
“Finally, they’re out,” Garrett told the press. “Now it’s to keep the squatters out completely. We don’t want another situation like this.”
Garrett stated that after she was able to enter the residence, she worked out how the teacher and her family had gotten into the house in January in the first place.
“They could climb on a trash can and climb on the roof,” Garrett told ABC 13. “From this window [which was loose], they can just open it from the outside and jump in. Because we kept getting the house rekeyed, and they kept getting in.”
Squatting instances have risen in various areas around the country in recent months.
In New York, for example, citizens are confronting a “growing problem” of squatters, according to a lawyer in the state who recently recommended individuals “treat your properties like a business” in order to implement safeguards against squatters.
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