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Handyman evicts squatters who moved into his mother’s house

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A handyman from California was able to evict squatters who had taken over his mother’s house.

“If they could take a house, then I could take a house,” Flash Shelton said in his YouTube video. “They’re squatters, and they have rights. Well, then, if I become the squatter on the squatter, then I should have rights, right?”

Shelton’s YouTube video, which garnered over 2 million views, documents his journey to reclaim the California home.

Shelton said his father recently died, and his mother wasn’t able to maintain the house alone, so they intended to rent it out.

A woman who said she was prison guard asked to rent the house, according to Shelton, but she wasn’t able to pay a deposit or provide a credit score, so Shelton declined her application.

Later on, Shelton discovered that furniture and several other possessions had been delivered to his home.

“She said that it was delivered by accident and she was getting rid of it,” Shelton said.

Shelton said that Realtors told him that the house was full of furniture and neighbors also told him that several people were in the house.  Shelton said he called the police, but the answer he received was unhelpful.

“They basically said, ‘You know, I’m sorry, but we can’t enter the house, and it looks like they’re living there. So you need to go through the courts,'” 

Shelton expressed his frustration at the situation.

“Even though you’re at your house, and you’re paying the mortgage … At some point, squatters feel like they have more rights than you, so they don’t have incentive to leave until a judge tells them to,” he said. “And that could take months, six months, it could take years. I don’t know. I didn’t want to take that chance.”

Shelton took matters into his own hands and drew up a lease agreement between himself and his mother designating Shelton as the legal resident of the house.

He said he packed some guns into Jeep and headed for California, arriving at 4 a.m. to find several cars in the driveway. Shelton said he parked down the street and bided his time until everyone left.

Shelton then let himself in using the keys to the house. His video shows a bed and other furniture inside the house along with boxes of belongings and what looks like a California Department of Corrections uniform.

Shelton said he started installing security cameras when two women arrived at the house.

“I’m really sorry about all this,” one of the women can be heard saying in a video Shelton recorded. “It’s a nightmare and beyond.”

Shelton told the woman that if she didn’t have everything out by midnight, he would have it removed. The alleged squatters didn’t make that deadline, but were gone by three, Shelton confirmed. “I think just the fact that I was there was enough,” he said. “It was actually fun to do it. I won’t lie about that. I’m glad it was successful.”

Shelton recorded a second video cautioning others against his approach.

“Not everyone should walk through that door not knowing what you’re gonna find,” he said. “It’s not always going to be peaceful like that.”

ARTICLE: PAUL MURDOCH

MANAGING EDITOR: LUKE MOCHERMAN

PHOTO CREDIT: FOX NEWS

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Paul Murdoch

Paul, 37, is from Scotland in the UK, but currently lives and works in Bangkok. Paul has worked in different industries such as telemarketing, retail, hospitality, farming, insurance, and teaching, where he works now. He teaches at an all-girls High School in Bangkok. “It’s a lot of work, but I love my job.” Paul has an active interest in politics. His reason for writing for FBA is to offer people the facts and allow them to make up their own minds. Whilst he believes opinion columns have their place, it is also important that people can have accurate news with no bias.

Paul, 37, is from Scotland in the UK, but currently lives and works in Bangkok. Paul has worked in different industries such as telemarketing, retail, hospitality, farming, insurance, and teaching, where he works now. He teaches at an all-girls High School in Bangkok. “It’s a lot of work, but I love my job.” Paul has an active interest in politics. His reason for writing for FBA is to offer people the facts and allow them to make up their own minds. Whilst he believes opinion columns have their place, it is also important that people can have accurate news with no bias.

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