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In Kentucky, squatters have serious rights. Daniel Toma learned a valuable legal lesson recently. No good deed goes unpunished. His good deed was taking pity on a couple of “friends” who stayed in his garage. For months, rent free. Adding insult, they “obtained a court order to force him off the property.”
Squatters win the house
Daniel Toma’s experience with squatters has him believing the world’s been turned totally upside down.
He made the mistake of allowing “Amy Davis, and her boyfriend, Tyler Sencuk, stay in the garage of his Valley Station home in Louisville over the summer when the couple’s car broke down.” He’ll never make that mistake again.
Sencuk was “working on the car for days” in Toma’s driveway. It still didn’t run. That’s probably because Sencuk had no actual idea what he was doing, other than looking busy.
At first, he tried to show a little patience. “I didn’t want to throw them out on the street, I was just trying to be kind.” Soon, the squatters “had laid out a mattress in his garage and were quickly making themselves at home.”
Despite the fact they couldn’t pay a real mechanic or any rent, “the couple allegedly changed the garage lock, had Spectrum install cable, and started getting mail sent to his address.”
That was a little over the top. Toma already had legitimate roommates. They all got together and had a little chat with the couple. The squatters simply “wouldn’t leave.”
More rights than the owner
They didn’t have anything close to a lease agreement so the property owner believed he had a right to “tell them to leave.” That’s when Sencuk advised him otherwise “He started saying they had squatters rights.” Fine, so be it.
Around Labor Day, he “posted a 30-day eviction notice,” as required by the law. He was hoping that would “scare them off.” Things didn’t go as planned and the situation mushroomed.
Soon after his legal notice was officially posted, One of Toma’s roomies took some bait the squatters threw down in front of him.
“Sencuk had allegedly gotten into an altercation with Toma’s roommate soon after the notice was posted, which escalated into blows between the two.” That’s all the interlopers needed. “Sencuk filed an emergency protective order against Toma.”
Sencuk claimed to be Toma’s “roommate” and convinced the judge to grant the restraining order without being “aware that Toma owned the home.” The judge banged his gavel and Toma isn’t allowed within “500 feet of the couple or his house.”
The squatters have him going frantic. “I just want this nightmare to end. I’ve been homeless the last few days. I feel like I have no power. I feel like I have no rights.“
