Squatter finally evicted from his Michigan home, neighbors celebrate in tears

A residential community in Michigan is tearfully celebrating the end of a tumultuous squatting situation that invaded its neighborhood and daily life for more than three years.

Dowagiac residents feared for their safety and the safety of their children when one of their neighbors allowed a man, his ramshackle campers and all their friends to take over their backyard living quarters.

“When he moved in, he started bringing in trash, old washers and dryers,” Dowagiac resident Demarko Smith told Fox News Digital by phone. “We hung out in our backyard. We have a movie theater and a bar, and there were always random people there.”

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Two years after the move, the owner died. Despite his family’s attempt to repossess the house and turn it over to the bank, everyone involved encountered Michigan state roadblocks, and the unwanted parties took over the entire house.

“They didn’t have running water or electricity for about three years,” Smith said. “He threw away most of the electricity. He took out the copper pipes and sold the boiler.”

Smith built a six-foot fence around his yard to separate his wife and daughter from the constant chaos happening next door. However, after installing the fence on his property, Smith said some men tried to tear it down and it is still partially in pieces.

“We have 14 cameras around our property,” Smith said. “They used drugs there, I know that. Some days we couldn’t go out because there was a smell of chemicals through the wood stove. The firefighters went eight times. They set fire to the shed in the backyard.”

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Demarko Smith of Dowagiac, Michigan, said neighbors endured illegal activity at a squatter house on his residential street for years. (Demarko Smith)

Smith added: “My wife and daughter didn’t feel safe here; when I left, they felt terrified.”

He described the area as a “great neighborhood” and said local residents had no problems with each other or other people on the street until the squatters moved out. Smith said they would sometimes see chemical smoke coming from the house onto the street. cameras.

“My daughter plays in the backyard,” he said. “I had to go outside and smell the air before she came out to play. We were outside watching a movie and we had to go inside because of the smell. We felt like we were cornered.”

After $4,500 in expenses to protect his family from illegal activity next door, Smith was equipped with surveillance that generated a seven-day battery backup, a 120 dB siren as a warning, Apple watches the house while Smith and his wife They were at work, a fence and a gun.

“I have people on camera coming into the house with backpacks and coming out of the house counting money,” he said. “It was all the time. Last winter, I think it was November, they had a six-hour standoff with the police. The police came there looking for someone and they wouldn’t come out of the house. They said ‘Come out with your hands up’ and Nobody would come out.”

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After six sleepless hours, the police kicked open the door, but had no luck finding the perpetrator.

“Half an hour later, I saw him coming out on camera,” Smith said. “Sometimes the police get into trouble on the street and come straight to my house.”

Although his friends encouraged him to uproot his family from the house, Smith said he and his wife spent 16 years developing their dream home and would not be forced to evacuate due to the situation.

“To feel like this in your own home is really sad,” he said. “We went on vacation and sometimes we canceled them because I had a bad feeling. We stayed home countless summers. We couldn’t enjoy ourselves because we had to worry about our house. I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy.”

Smith, a DJ from Michigan, detailed how he and his wife spent at least four hours a day watching footage, including those they missed while sleeping. He said that, while he was at work, he simultaneously played music for partygoers and watched the cameras.

WHEN PRIVATE PROPERTY IS TAKEN BY OCCUPIERS, THE ENTIRE SOCIETY PAYS A PRICE

Smith told Fox News Digital that the squatter removed the boiler from the house and the bank put a tarp over a gaping hole in the roof to cover it. (Demarko Smith)

However, Smith said police did everything they could, including making numerous arrests and even dragging out someone hiding under a shed. He believes the city is to blame for the recurring torment caused by the squatter and his friends.

“You can write people a citation for their lawn, and then you have people doing things like this and nothing happens,” he said.

Finally, after years of torture, Smith says the bank was able to evict the squatter and his friends.

“When he came out of there, we were on the porch crying because we were so happy he was gone,” Smith said.

Unfortunately, he packed up and moved his campers with flat tires and covered in duct tape to another street in the area, which happened to be the same street as Smith’s mother-in-law.

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For years, Demarko Smith and his wife feared for their family’s safety as many people entered and left the illegal home counting cash and carrying full backpacks. (Demarko Smith)

“Now they’re angry there,” he said.

Smith said the home, about 25 miles from the Lake Michigan shore, was for sale, despite a large hole in the roof covered with a tarp and missing wiring throughout the home. On both Zillow and Realtor.com, the home appears to be off the market, although it is estimated to be worth more than $100,000 on both sites.

“I’ll offer you $15,000 for it,” Smith said. “I just want to tear it down and have ownership.”

Although the Smith family and other residents are cheerful since the eviction, there is still a fear among them in case a similar situation arises again. Additionally, there are people who are currently left unaware that the main squatter has moved out and is still coming to the house.

“We started a group chat with the neighbors,” Smith said. “We tell each other, ‘Hey, this guy is walking around, he looks suspicious, just a heads up.'”