When Sun Tzu, the author of "The Art of War," proclaimed somewhere in 512 BCE that “To know your enemy, you must become your enemy," the legendary military strategist couldn't possibly imagine that one day people will be using his tactics to force strangers out of their homes.
After squatters took over his mother's recently vacated Californian home, a resourceful man decided to take matters into his own hands and devised an ingenious strategy to evict them - United Handyman Association founder, Flash Shelton, became a squatter himself.
"I dissected the laws over a weekend. I basically figured out that until there's civil action, the squatters didn't have any rights. So if I could switch places with them, become the squatter myself, I would assume those squatter rights," Shelton explained to Varney & Co. on Thursday.
Recently, a man took on the role of a squatter in order to deal with squatters nesting in his mother's recently vacated house
Image credits: FlashShelton
After his father's passing, the family aimed to sell the house but discovered that squatters had occupied the property instead. Upon contacting the authorities, Shelton came to understand that the police's hands were pretty much tied.
"I called local law enforcement, and as soon as they saw that there was furniture in the house, they said that I had a squatter situation and they had basically no jurisdiction and they couldn't do anything," said Shelton.
Following the passing of his dad, the family's attempt to sell the house was met with the discovery that squatters had moved in
Image credits: FlashShelton
After realizing that law enforcement's hands were tied, Flash Shelton devised a plan against the illegal residents
Image credits: FlashShelton
Image credits: FlashShelton
After immersing himself in "horror stories" about the arduous battles against squatters, Shelton boldly embraced the task at hand. In order not to get himself tangled in the labyrinthine web of squatters' legal entitlements, he had to become one himself. To add a layer of precaution, he orchestrated his mother's authorship of an airtight lease agreement, duly stamped with the seal of notarial approval.
"Well, then, if I become the squatter on the squatter, then I should have rights, right?" he remembers thinking.
In New York, for example, squatters attain legal privileges in as little as 30 days, leading to increased challenges in the eviction process which is already mind-boggling in itself. The laws are pretty much the same in sunny Los Angeles, where property owners frequently find themselves compelled to pay in order to remove illegal tenants.
Meanwhile, in Philadelphia, even after a court mandates an individual's departure from a residence, sheriff officials could arrive for eviction but opt to withdraw instead of provoking a confrontation.
Infiltrating the property as a squatter, armed with a notarized lease and a firearm (“just in case”), Shelton confronted the strangers living in his mother's house
Image credits: FlashShelton
Upon entering the residence after waiting in the car for the squatters to leave, Flash discovered a wealth of furniture and numerous boxes of possessions filling the space. Opting for a proactive approach, he chose to install security cameras. While he was in the process of setting up the cameras, however, the squatters made their return.
"They didn't have a lease, so that never came into play. But when they came back, I just laid it out for them, told them that it was all locked up, cameras, and the only way they would get back in the house is if they broke in on camera, and I would prosecute."
Shelton gave the illegal residents until midnight to get their stuff out of the house before it legally becomes his. Soon, the squatters were out of his hair, with no furniture left behind.
He further mentioned that in the event that the squatters persisted within the premises and refused to leave, Shelton would have leaned on the authority of the lease and employed tactics to "make it miserable" for them with the goal of prompting them to voluntarily depart.
Soon after, the squatters willingly removed all their furniture and went on their way
Image credits: FlashShelton
Having successfully dealt with squatters, Shelton has transitioned to aiding individuals facing similar problems. He not only offers remote consultations via Zoom, encouraging contributors to donate to the cause, but also extends hands-on assistance when possible.
"It is something I am doing to help people now, as many as I personally possibly can," he told Stuart Varney, the host of the show.
Here's the video of Shelton telling the whole story himself
People applauded the man for his thinking, particularly after being abandoned by the legal system in the US
