All language subtitles for 1 Squatters.2025.S01E03.480p

We're Squatter, and I have a lease for
the property to move in here. This is my

team right here. We're taking over the
house. We are now officially roommates.

I'm

Flash

Shelton. In 2019, Squatters took over my
mom's home. The sheriff couldn't get

him out, so I did.

Turns out my family is not alone.

Across America, thousands of homeowners
get locked out when a squatter moves in.

Now my team and I are coming in, travel
across the country, confronting these

squatters face to face. We're not going
anywhere.

Tell families get their homes back. Get
out of my house.

I'm in Vancouver, Washington.

where an epidemic of squatting has
drained homeowners of their life savings

delayed their dreams.

Hi. Hi, Paul.

Welcome.

Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you.

I understand you have a situation.

I have a bit of a situation I have.

Do you want to just go into your story
and tell us about it? Yeah, so my wife

and I bought a house for my wife's
parents so that they could have a place

get older and to be really close to
their grandkids.

And it was going to be a few months
before they moved in.

And we met this nice woman. She had some
kids. She needed a place to stay for

six months.

And housed it? Just housed it. I thought
we were doing her a favor. She was

helping us out.

And then she just didn't leave.

Do you have any pictures of this person?

This is her.

Okay. Did you do any screening on her?
Yeah, we did a background check.

Everything seemed to come out fine.

You know, we don't even know that you
did a background check on the right

person. Squatters often give out fake
names.

We'll have Michael run her information
and see what we can find out. What did

you like about her? Why did you choose
her?

You know, she's a mom, kids.

Okay. You know, we have three little
kids too, so trying to help a single mom

get back on her feet.

So how many kids?

Never seen the kids. That should have
been alarming right there.

I'm not saying she doesn't have them,
but it's been so weird.

Even though you haven't seen them, we're
very careful, so we will go into this

cautiously. It's odd that no one's seen
the squatter's kids, but I always take

special care when I think children may
be involved.

Every move will be made with their
safety in mind.

What kind of agreement do you have with
her?

Our agreement was she'd watch the house
for six months.

It's the gap that we needed to get the
grandparents to town and coordinate

everything. And it wasn't only when we
came up to the end of the six months,

was really difficult. She wouldn't come
to the doors, she wouldn't call us back,

she wouldn't text back.

She changed a lot.

That's when you realize that this is
not, she's doing some funny stuff.

Yeah.

Was she aware that the grandparents are
going to move in, like, at the six

-month mark?

Yeah, they're moving all the way from
across the country, and we had to

coordinate a lot of things to make it
work. So she's very aware that she's...

you know, hurting your family. Yeah, we
thought we were getting a

straightforward person, honest,
trustworthy.

This whole thing's turned into a
nightmare.

You know, we have grandparents in an RV
trying to figure out what they're going

to do. We went to the police and, you
know, we talked to the different local

authorities. They said there was nothing
they could do.

And the more we researched it, the more
we found out that there's a lot of

resources for squatters, but really none
for the homeowners.

When's the last interaction you had with
her?

She called and said that there was a
snake under the garbage can.

We've never had any pests or anything in
the house. It's a very clean, very nice

house when we had her show up.

Was there a snake?

No.

No. Someone has to take a look at it.
There's no snake.

Okay.

Washington is very clear about their
rights being more than yours, so I want

assume those rights as well. A
renovation leave allows me to do

the home, and that makes it very
uncomfortable for a squatter. So are you

with giving me a leave? I think you'll
be a better tenant. Okay. So I just need

you to sit back and let us take over.

This is really unfair.

We put a lot of time and effort into
this house and made a big vision, a

plan to have the family together. It's
really important to us.

And she messed it all up.

Joel, let's get this drone up.

We're just a couple blocks from the
house.

We should be able to get a good view.

Let's go to the long lens. I want to
make sure our squatter doesn't see us.

Sally the squatter told Paul and Sarah
that she had kids. So we're going to

scope around the house and see if
there's any evidence of children.

Yeah, there we go, down that street.

There's our house.

So the one vehicle.

Can you give me a backside view? Sure.

I'm not seeing any sign of any pits on
the property.

The property's clean.

Did you see any kid stuff?

No, I didn't. When you have kids, trust
me, it's stuff everywhere, at least a

shoe, a bike.

There's nothing.

She's changed the locks, so we're going
to have to come up with a way to get in

the house.

So we can just knock on the door, right?

Well, we are going to knock on the door.
We're going to go in and change smoke

detectors, doing the necessary
maintenance repairs according to the

Typically, squatters will be
standoffish.

They'll not allow maintenance in. But I
find that bringing up smoke detectors, I

can get them to realize it's better than
dying in a fire in their sleep.

All right, so I'm going to drop a notice
to enter today on the door.

All right.

With my lease, I have the right to enter
this house, but because children might

be inside, I'm going to be extra
cautious and post an inspection notice

door.

Oh, someone's opening the door.

Is that her?

It's crazy. She's wanting to check him
out, like, as if that's really her

She's not even looking around her
shoulder or nothing.

Well, good. She's not expecting
anything. She never took the notice off.

like their way of not acknowledging it.
All right, so let's bring that bird

down.

Hey, Mike, how you doing?

Hey, guys, I'm good. How you doing?

So I had asked you about Sally Jeffress.
What do you got on her?

I ran the name you sent me.

Her full name is Sally Barton Jeffress,
also known as Sally Barton Jeffries. It

looks like she's moved around a lot, six
different addresses in the last five

years. Okay. She could be a serial
squatter.

Are there any children?

I looked all over, but I couldn't find
anything that points to Sally having any

children.

Nothing points to any children.

I'm confused. That's the whole reason to
stay in the house.

Why would you lie and say you have kids?
Why don't you lie and say you have

nieces or nephews or something?

Like, make the lie believable.

We're talking about Conard. We're
talking about people that they just

out, oh, this might work.

Let's use it. That doesn't mean she
doesn't have any. We still need to enter

cautiously as if there's children there.
Hey, Mike, thank you so much.

The kid factor always concerns me.

I usually do everything I can to avoid
putting children in the middle because

the last thing I want to do is have
innocent children in the middle of a

situation like this that their parents
caused.

I'm pretty sure she doesn't have kids,
but we need to be certain. All right,

let's get ready to go test some smoke
detectors.

Let's get our stuff.

Okay, let's do it.

Thank you.

Stay alert, Cam.

And keep an eye on these windows.

Hello?

My name is Flash.

I have a renovation agreement and I'm
here to do some maintenance.

Yeah, we put a notice on the door here.

Just got to change some smoke detectors.

If you open the door, I can hear you and
I can show you the notice.

Hi. I just need to check the smoke
detectors.

Is there something wrong with the ones
that are in here? Yeah. So, like, we'll

check batteries, we'll push buttons, and
then if there's any that are more than

five years old, I have to put up new
ones.

Everything I'm telling her is true.

I've actually been a handyman and
contractor for many years, and we'll do

maintenance on these smoke detectors.

Does it take two of you to do this?

No. I mean, would, you know, would you
be more comfortable if it's just me?

Yes. I can do that for you. Okay.

All right. I'll just hang tight, Flash.

All right.

Sorry to bother you.

I'm going to go ahead and get an
assessment of all of them.

Okay. And then that way I know how many
I need to replace. Okay. Okay. And then

I just need to take some pictures, let
them know that I did it. Okay. So is

there one in the kitchen?

Yeah. Let me check that one first.

All right. Let's see if we can get it to
beep.

Okay. So that one's not working. If you
had a fire in the kitchen, that wouldn't

have been good.

Go to the next one.

All right.

Let me check the bedroom.

All right. Wow. Okay.

That one's working.

Just you here?

Yeah.

Okay. Kids live here with you?

No. No? No.

Almost looks like you just moved in.

Yeah. Well, I've been here like nine
months, though. Oh, wow.

All right. You're great.

Okay. There is definitely no sign of
kids.

Hey, Tally, can you come out here a
second? I want to show you something.

I have a lease for the property to move
in here.

This is my team right here.

We're taking over the house.

You can't do this. This is my house. I
understand you're upset.

Let's get out. Get out. Okay, hold on.
Get out of here.

You're a squatter, and I have a lease
for the property. We are now officially

roommates. From my understanding, you're
house -sitting here.

You overstayed your welcome.

You are being filmed. You are on body
cam right now. Hold on.

No, no, no, no.

You can do that if you want to, but your
ass is going to go to jail. Be smart.

Don't be a fool.

Don't be a fool.

Get out of my house now!

Ma 'am?

We can have a peaceful conversation, but
you are going to dictate the tone of

this conversation.

If you want to listen to reason and you
want to talk, we can talk. You know, I

need to get out.

We need, we are going to.

You know, here's the thing that you got
in.

I don't even want to, you know, just
leave me the f*** alone.

Wow. All right, that was expected.

She's shocked. She needs a moment.

So we're going to give her that. She's
in her room. We're going to.

Smoke detector, you're in your room. Oh,
thank you. I can return that.

You okay? I'm okay.

Okay.

Really, if she would have hit you, they
wouldn't have been able to hold me back,

period. I expect them to go crazy.

Period, people. I want you to hear me. I
want it to be clear. I'm not

whispering. I'm not hiding anything.

I'm not over here trying to be behind
your back. I say everything clear and

direct.

She's hoping that we do something that
she can have us arrested and removed.

That's why we have to remember to keep
our cool.

Let's make sure there's no other people.
I want to check bedrooms, closets,

everywhere.

Sally just kind of lost it. She is
absolutely beyond herself upset.

A weapon basically was drawn.

So my team has to stay 100 % focused or
somebody gets hurt.

Closets, rooms are all clear?

They're empty, clear. Okay, awesome.

Right now, my job is to make her
uncomfortable and feel that she needs to

elsewhere. Just like squatters, once we
take over, we cannot leave the house.

Cam, can you get me a camera up in that
corner right up there? Just kind of

looking diagonal this way.

Even right there, we see the whole room.
These cameras are going to take any

privacy away from the main area.

Cameras are at least getting everything
now.

Well, hello.

Hey, did you come out to join us? All
right, Cam, don't touch her.

All right, so now you've just destructed
my property.

She's ripped it out. We're getting to
her. She's feeling a little bit out of

control.

Let's get started on our next step,
building our reptile enclosure.

You got that?

Yeah. The owner told me that there was
an incident involving a snake.

So I have a little surprise for her.
We're going to build a snake terrarium

the living room.

We want to show her that we control the
space.

So we're blocking this off. Right now
she's going to have access to her

the bathroom, and the exit. Okay.

So if she runs outside, all I've got to
do is close the door.

Oh, hi.

We're doing some renovations in here. I
just wanted the opportunity to show you

how things are going to be different.

What the f*** is all this plastic about?

Stay free to all of this. As you can
see, I'm maintaining your access to the

door.

All right. Sally.

Sally. Sally.

I'll tell you what. I'll tell you what.
Hold on. Hold on. Hold on.

Don't touch my things. This isn't going
to get you anywhere.

It's only going to get worse.

If you need help,

you can talk to me.

Until then, we're going to continue.

Good morning, Sally.

We have a wonderful day planned. I just
wanted to, you know. Just leave me

alone.

Wearing it down, y 'all. We're wearing
it down.

So we've got a reptile habitat lady
coming. We're going to talk to her about

using this home as a reptile sanctuary.

Hello. Hey.

Based on what Paula told me, I had a
hunch that maybe Sally didn't like

So I brought in a reptile specialist.

Doing a little bit of construction here,
getting ready for you. I'm trying to

freak her out that I'm going to be
living in this house with snakes roaming

free. Do we need to have an enclosure or
can they just have free run of the

house? Are there going to be other pets
in the home? Dogs, cats?

No. Okay. So this is Gemma. Wow.

She is beautiful.

And so when you're going to grab a
snake, you always want to go from

them. If we go from over, we can
simulate a predator like a bird.

Well, thank you so much. Thank you. From
the look in her eyes, man, she's

terrified. She's not a big fan of
snakes.

She's sitting in that room thinking
about where she's going to be going

tomorrow.

All right.

You got it? Got it. Okay. All right.
Thank you. Thank you.

These people, they actually brought a
snake into the house.

No. It's like 10 feet long.

I don't know who she's talking to, but
she's explaining, I guess, the scenario.

Everything. I think Sally is in a very
vulnerable place right now. I've been

playing bad cop. I think it's time for
me to send justice and to be good cop.

So I need you to maybe have a
conversation with her.

Maybe you can just go up just kind of
hearted, just be like, you know, hey,

doesn't have to be like this. Just try
to.

Have empathy, you know?

Life doesn't have to be this difficult,
but we want her to leave.

Can we have a heart -to -heart?

The point of all this is to get you to
understand that, you know, the severity

of the situation, you know?

You guys made my life a living hell. I
just want you guys to leave.

Yeah, but that's not possible because
you are the squatter.

We'll go the distance to get people out
of a house.

Where am I supposed to go?

There's got to be somebody, friends,
family. If you need help, assistance,

know what I'm saying? That's what we're
here for.

We're more than willing to. But the key
thing is you have to get out of this

hell.

Okay. All right. I just have had enough.

Just give me a couple hours.

Can I get that in writing?

Yeah, I can sign something. Okay.

And I'll bring it to you, okay?

Okay.

I think she's really just tired of
everything. And when you're tired, you

tend to, like, just, you know, you give
up.

So here you go.

Do you need help with your bag?

I want to do it all on my own. Okay.

Understood.

This was about Sally being stubborn.

She knew the deal, but she took this
house and kept it, knowing that she was

hurting another family.

Hey, Sally?

You about ready?

I think Sally was at the end

of her rope, and she moved out rather
quickly. Now we're just going to wave

off. All right. Good luck to you.

Time to do our princess wave. She took
this house and kept it hostage and kept

from an elderly couple being able to
move in to be close to their

Bye.

Hopefully don't see you at another
place.

Don't come back now, you hear?

Perfect. Now they have a home to come
to.

Hey, Paul.

How's it going? Good, good. The last
time we met.

You were stressed out? Yeah. And today I
have the privilege of welcoming you

back to your home. Really?

She's gone. She's gone. And I want to be
the first to open the door for you.

Thank you. Welcome you in. Wow.

It's looking great. Better than I
thought it would. Yeah. I don't see any

physical damage.

No. It just needs to be cleaned up.

Yeah, I was worried it was going to be
trashed.

We've been waiting a really long time
for this. It's been a total ordeal.

This lady put us through hell.

There was never any sign of children.

Really? No kids? No kids. It was a
relief.

Paul was living a nightmare.

And, you know, we were able to go in and
give the squatter the nightmare. This

was a good day.

The grandparents are going to be really
stoked. Having family nearby means

everything. So this is huge. It's really
grateful.

Thank you so much. It's pretty amazing
that we have the house back and for the

grandparents just to be able to hang out
with the kids, read them stories, be

right around the corner.

It's what it's all about.