All language subtitles for 1 Squatters.2025.S01E07.480p

You have been squatting in this
residence?

What is that?

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, we're coming in, travel

across the country, confronting these
squatters face to face. We're not going

anywhere to help families get their
homes back.

I'm in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to
meet a couple whose plan to start a

has been put on hold by squatters.

Hey, guys. Hey, how you doing? Good, how
are you?

Great finally meeting you. Nice to meet
you, too.

Kaylee, correct?

Awesome, nice to meet you both.

Yeah, thank you again so much for
meeting with us. Yeah, I understand you

have a squatter situation, huh?

Yeah, so, you know, I bought this house
around 12 years ago, and then I left

Philly for business. Currently, we're
living in Las Vegas.

We want to move back to Philly to start
a family, you know, get married. But

this entire situation is kind of keeping
us from moving forward with our lives.

I had rented the house out to a tenant
for over 10 years, and when our last

tenant moved out, I thought that, well,
you know, this was going to be perfect

timing to move back into the house.
Okay. But I walk into my house, and

was just a stranger in there.

And I was like, oh, who are you? He
actually said, oh, I knew this day would

come. So that's when he explained that
my old tenant was a friend of his, and

said that he could stay in the house.

Did he claim to have a lease? No.

And your original lease did it?

Allow him to sublease? Not at all. Okay.
I've heard this story time and time

again. Tenant moves out. The squatter
moves in. They always blame the previous

tenant. It's a tactic to create that
reasonable doubt. It's a story. It's all

lies.

Do you know anything about the squatter?
His name's Jesse.

This was a picture of his ID.

It looks like he applied for a duplicate
with... Your address?

He's, like, trying to show you, like, I
live here, this is my proof?

First time I met him, he looked me in
the eye and he said that he wanted to

leave, but he just didn't need some
time.

And he said that he would move out in 30
days. I decided to, you know, just kind

of cut him some slack.

What was supposed to be one month turned
into six months?

He actually brought in more people.

Now there's three people living at the
house.

All right, and do we have any
information on the other two?

No.

Has your squatter offered to pay rent?

Have they paid rent?

Not a dime. Okay.

I believe that there was no intent to
vacate. It was all words. It was all

Paul has been stuck with him for six
months, and his whole life is on hold,

waiting. Everything you described to me
is a script. They use it just to buy

another month and another month and
another month. When I went to the police

told them the situation, the police
officer had told me that it was a civil

matter. And that they couldn't do
anything about it. So that's when I knew

things were really getting serious and
that I needed to contact you. Do you

a key for the premises?

Yes, we do have a key.

The other thing that I'm going to have
you do, if you're okay with it, is sign

lease to me. Okay. Making me the legal
resident. Right. More than happy to sign

this. Right. It's just a nightmare
situation.

You know, someone just taking over your
house and then stopping you.

From moving on with your life. I've
heard stories of this happening, but

when it really happens to you, it's just
like, wow, this could happen to

anybody. It's crazy.

Yeah. Thank you so much. I definitely
lost sleep just thinking about how to

this water out.

See that picture a homeowner gave us?

Yeah. Okay, so I'm going to get Michael
on the phone right now. Hey, Mike.

Hey, what do we got?

I've got another name for you.

Jesse Paul Newton.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Any information that you can on him,
appreciate it. All right, I'm on it. Cam

and I are going to head over to Paul and
Kaylee's home to check out the condo

complex and get a lay of the land so we
can begin surveillance.

So it's right up here on the left.

No one's there.

You know, I have keys.

We can enter this residence. If I can
find an opportunity where they all are

gone and we can just unlock the door and
walk in there, we immediately establish

possession of the premises.

The only thing about those townhomes,
man, they can be tricky when you're

to see what's your entry points and, you
know, where you want to stay. Yeah, and

the access is, like, it's a pretty
narrow area.

It's going to be almost impossible to
approach that front door without being

noticed.

All right, Cam. Looks like Mike has
something for us, so let's log him in

Okay. Hey, what do you got for us,
buddy?

Yeah, so this guy is interesting.

He has no criminal record, only lived at
a couple of addresses, one of which was

his mom's address.

He has some social media accounts.

He doesn't seem to have very many
friends.

There's no real information on who the
other two squatters might be living with

him. Okay. You see anything else?

I also learned he works from home.

But here's what's interesting.

He works the graveyard shift.

That's midnight to 7, 8 a .m. That's
good to know. If we enter the property

he'll likely be asleep, which means we'd
be able to enter safely and be prepared

for him. All right, well, thank you.
Good luck out there. All right, thanks.

We'll talk to you later. All right,
let's do it.

Hello? What's that?

What's that? I want to just talk to you.

I just want to talk. I'm trying to talk
to you about that.

So I want to let you know that it was
reported to us that you have been

squatting in this residence.

Okay, so I have an individual by the
name of Paul.

that is the owner of this property. I
have a lease, and we're moving in here.

now am a legal tenant, so I'm just
getting a roommate forced on me.

I would very much prefer you not be in
my house or my space that I... Yeah, I

understand. But I need you to also
understand the gravity of the situation.

I understand completely.

If you can't provide a lease, then you
are considered a squatter under the law

in Pennsylvania.

So I was told that there's a male and
female squatting here with you.

Yes. Where are they?

That is a friend of mine, but she
doesn't actually live here, but she

But to your knowledge, they're not
expecting to live here.

No, but they do occasionally spend a
night or two, but then they leave and go

elsewhere. So I want to work with you,
man.

Basically, Paul, he says that he has had
conversations with you numerous times.

and you have agreed to leave and you've
asked for 30 days and you said that you

need time to find a place. Well, I am
your official notice that it is time.

Okay, so we need to really try to figure
out what we can do to come up with some

sort of solution.

You have a job. Yes, I do have a job.

I don't want to move in with you. That's
not what I enjoy doing. And I'm sure

you would rather not have all of us
living here and waking up to cameras

morning. I have a job to do. This isn't
personal.

Ultimately, my job is to get homes back,
okay?

And we have a gentleman and a fiancé
hoping to start a family here.

And I can say that I don't see any
packing going on like you're intending

move.

Because the first place I was able to
find isn't available until early May. We

really need to try to be creative here
together. I will work with you, but we

really have to come up. I mean, right
now we're in February.

Start Googling other stuff around, maybe
a single. What is your budget,

realistically? I can afford under a
thousand.

The truth how I believe it is he had no
intentions to move out and to vacate.

All of the times that he's asked for
more time, I don't believe that he truly

intended to vacate. And now we're going
to push the issue. We're going to help

him find a place and vacate.

Found a studio, man, for 350 bucks.

350 for a studio.

Studio fully furnished.

This might be a good option to call on.

At least check it out.

Seems like a viable solution.

Right now, I have to be good cop.

I have to do everything I can to help
him.

Even if we have to set him up in another
place and physically help him move,

that's what I feel like I need to do in
this one.

Right now, my goal is to have you sign a
vacate agreement.

stating that you are vacating the
premises, and you are acknowledging

consequence if you don't.

Can we work out an agreement and help
you relocate?

Yes.

He's agreed to move out, but if he
doesn't leave, and this is all a game to

I have to be prepared to move to the
next level.

Let's get a vacate agreement.

At that point, I'm going to be a very
annoying roommate.

All right, so I just got that listing.
I'm going to go ahead and email it.

you. So if we can set up an appointment
with them, I'd be happy to take you over

there. In the meantime, we can also try
to look for some other options as well,

okay? Found another one on Craig's list,
University of the City. They do one

month free.

One month free? Okay. Yeah.

Let's reach out to them.

We're going to occupy this property
until the squatter is gone and the house

secure.

Whenever you have the opportunity, keep
checking that listing.

Oh, I checked about five minutes ago.
Yeah, so just keep checking tonight. I

know you're going to be working between
now and tomorrow morning. Hopefully we

get a confirmation.

What is that?

What the hell is that?

Watch out, Ziz. Get in front of me,
please.

Okay.

Hey.

Okay.

Listen, I just wanted to talk to you.

I just wanted to talk to you, man.

Look, I don't mean you any harm.

I want to hear that story.

So you're paying to be here? Who are you
paying?

Jesse, is that true?

But every one of us has to leave.

Leave when?

Everyone is out of here as of today.

No, not me.

Yeah, you are out of here. It is illegal
here for him to rent. He is not legally

allowed to rent to you. I'm not supposed
to know that. He did.

Jesse, I'm going to punch you dead in
your face.

Are y 'all leaving or are y 'all
staying?

We're staying.

You might as well get comfortable too,
them big doves. I pay to be here. I work

every day.

What am I supposed to do?

So now what? You want to chill and have
a conversation with me? To me, I'm a

little angry.

Okay, and I understand. What am I
supposed to do? You guys, according to

law, are considered squatters. I'm not a
squatter, and I am a paid tenant.

Look, this is something we're going to
have to sort out.

Exactly. Because I found this thing out
before a room for rent.

You know what I mean? So you're saying
that Jesse put an ad out on Craigslist?

100%. So Jesse's saying he never posted
and that

he didn't.

Jesse's a liar.

You know what? Really?

Dude, peace.

Unfortunately, I mean, look, I have a
job to do. Yeah.

And I totally get that. Yeah. Okay? And,
you know, ultimately I have to give

this home back to the homeowner. Okay.
Because the home was taken illegally

him. How are you paying Jesse?

Cash. Cash.

And he told me he was related to the
Chinese man.

The homeowner has never received any
rent from Jesse. That's wild.

That's wild. I've got a man and his
fiance that have been trying to move

this house and have been here three
times and have been told that he just

a little bit of time to get out.

When was the last time you were here?

He was here a few months ago.

That was the day I was at work, and she
met him, and she called me and said,

hey, the owner of the house is here to
tell you.

Wow.

Huh.

Jesse said that he just needed a little
bit of time and that he would be out

within 30 days.

Wow. I've been here for months, and I
have mail here.

I have proof that I'm paid to be a
tenant here. I got text messages.

Show me.

Hey, Jesse, good morning. It's your
roommate, Daniel. I had to get a new

number because my phone got smashed and
it was cheaper to get a new one. I have

the rest of the rent that I owe you for
October, and I also have this month's

for you as well. I'm sorry for being a
little late on the payments, and thank

you for being patient with me.

But if you need some cash before then,
when I return home from work, she's

upstairs and she has half of the rent,
and I'll give you the rest of the half

later. Hey, Daniel, good morning to you.
I was trying to catch you before you

left for work this morning and talk to
you about just that.

Jesse lied to me. Daniel's text message
clearly showed a conversation between

him and Jesse about rent money and Jesse
acknowledging the acceptance of rent

payment. The way I see it, you know, you
may have been caught in the middle of

bullshit. Absolutely. So that told me
that some of what Daniel said was true

he may have been duped. So, you know,
basically I'm disappointed.

That I collected a few bucks from him
one time. You told me, and I

asked you, were you charging rent from
anyone ever, and you told me no.

It's called theft by deception, man. Go
to jail for that.

That I forgot that he paid me $150 one
time.

But you also mentioned to us that nobody
was living here, too.

He has not actually lived here. He has
been in and out for a couple weeks here,

a couple weeks there. He got little.

Don't believe that dude. He's an
alcoholic, drunk.

You get inside of his room, get inside
of his room and break his sleep.

I'm Daniel.

Do it in peace.

Let him be.

He's got to live with himself. You've
got to live with yourself.

Danny, come here a second.

Come here, listen.

So, right now, we need to focus on what
we need, and we need to de -escalate.

Because I'm going to tell you right now,
there is no, nothing, zero, that's

going to be accomplished.

My bad, Flash. Okay? My bad. All right,
keep that. I'm just mad.

I get it. I totally get it.

Dude's a con artist. I get it. Yelling
at him and calling him names or doing

anything else is only going to make this
situation get worse.

Nah, you're right. You're right. All
right?

I'm not going to hurt that man, bro,
because I know I could really hurt that

man. But I'm not going to do it. That's
not a fair fight.

When Daniel first came in, he was
clearly upset. He was even threatening

punch people in the face and get
physical.

When I finally got him to talk, he
started telling me his side of the

this situation,

Jesse conned him.

We know Jesse is on his way out. I need
to give this house back.

You know, ultimately, I want to try to
come up with some sort of vacate

agreement. So how can we get there?

I don't like that you're in this
situation, but I have a job to do, too.

Listen to me.

You sign a vacate agreement and we will
put you up in a hotel for one week.

And all you got to do is just be out of
here by Monday.

Though I never pay squatters to leave.

The situation with Daniel and his
girlfriend, it's unique.

These two, they believe that they're
legitimate tenants, and they may never

their money back.

I just want to help you. That's the best
solution I can come up with. I get it.

I get it.

Dude, we're both in this situation.

I get it.

Work with us, Dan. Work with us.

I guess I have no choice.

Ultimately, I was able to get agreements
to vacate by three occupants today.

In a couple days, I am taking over this
house. I'm locking it up, and everything

remaining is going to storage.

I mean, life ain't over.

No, it isn't. I've been a survivor my
whole life, so I'll figure it out.

Sometimes we get comfortable, and, you
know, that's really our biggest enemy is

comfort, you know. Yeah, for sure.

Keep moving.

Change is good.

All right, man. All right.

Absolutely, man.

Jeff, hey.

What up, Doc?

What's up?

So Daniel and his girlfriend moved out.
Yeah. Hey, how much stuff do you

actually have to move today? The mover
canceled, so we're going to just.

Do it. The biggest item is a TV. Do you
mind if I grab it? Really want to walk

through the beer cans?

Okay. Mind being a beer can.

We'll survive, brother.

Jesse came across as this nice guy that
just needs a little bit of help, but he

was deceitful.

He was dishonest.

He was just playing a game and taking
advantage of a kind heart.

Whatever's left here, the owner will be
putting in storage.

And then another thing, Jesse, I need to
get the other key.

Yeah, I figured as much.

We've got the house squared away right
now, and I get to come down and meet

and Kaylee and give them some good news.

We've removed their squatters.

I get to give them the key back.

This is a good day.

Hey, Flash.

Hey, guys.

How you doing? I'm doing well. How are
you?

I don't know. You're anticipating right
now, right? Yes, yes.

No one's at the house now?

So we escorted the last squatter out
this morning. I do have my guy, Tam,

sure that no one else comes back to the
house. So I'm going to give you your

key. Oh, my gosh. I don't know whether
it's a...

Thank you so much. Absolutely, man.

Absolutely. Thank you.

I'm thrilled that we're finally going to
be able to move into the house, make

renovations, start our family.

All right, guys. I'm happy to finally be
able to show her the house that I've

told her so much about. Thank you again,
Flash.

Absolutely. Much appreciated.
Absolutely.