Claire Reid
A squatter who attempted to sell a house that didn’t belong to him has been arrested for once again breaking into the property.
Kristen Craven and her husband Richard inherited the Baton Rouge ranch house last year after her parents passed away, and had originally planned to refurbish and resell the property.
However, during a routine check of the house, they noticed a dumpster in the yard and saw that the property had been emptied.
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Speaking to WBRZ back in April, Richard said: “We were checking on it and it was ransacked. Everything was tossed.”
The couple eventually discovered that a man named Joseph Guerin had managed to break into the property and attempted to make it their own by changing the locks, getting utility bills in his name and even painting the place.
Not only that, but Guerin brazenly attempted to sell the house - listing it for sale online for $225,000. In the listing, Guerin described it as a 'magnificent home' with plenty of space for a large family and a pool to 'beat the heat’, the Daily Mail reports.
Craven reported the matter to the police but claims he was originally told it was a civil matter and that both he and Guerin had paperwork that appeared to show the property was there.
"The police won't show me what paperwork he has," Craven said. "I've told them whatever he has, has got to be forged."
In April, Guerin was removed from the property and was arrested for unauthorized entry and taken to jail, WBRZ reports.
But he’s since been released and Craven says he’s back at the property, and is even alleged to have given the property’s address to cops for his release paperwork.
Craven says he was alerted to the man’s return when someone from a neighboring property sent him a text message to say: “You have company over here. That Joey guy, he’s back.”
"He got in there," Craven said. "He saw it was empty, and he decided he's going to sell it for cash money. And he's just about accomplished that."
But the couple have vowed to do all they can to get the squatter out of the property.
He added: "I'm not going to let a criminal to go bust in the house and take control.
"It's just as simple as that. So it's more than getting control. He's going. He's going to go."