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Woman Arrested While Trying To Reclaim Her Home From Squatter: “I Spent The Night On A Mat”
A Georgia homeowner found herself handcuffed and placed behind bars for attempting to move back into her own home.
Loletha Hale has been locked in a months-long battle with an alleged squatter named Sakemeyia Johnson.
After months of filings, hearings, and appeals, Loletha was arrested and removed from her mother’s old home on December 9. She was charged with criminal trespassing and a misdemeanor count of terroristic threats.
Highlights
- A Georgia homeowner was arrested after attempting to move back into her property after a months-long battle.
- Loletha Hale had arrived at the house to clean it up when she found alleged squatter Sakemeyia Johnson on the property.
- A scuffle led to cops arriving and hauling Loletha away.
- “I spent the night on a mat on a concrete floor in deplorable conditions while this woman, this squatter, slept in my home,” she said.
RELATED:
Loletha Hale was arrested after attempting to move back into her property after a months-long battle
Image credits: WSB-TV
Sakemeyia, meanwhile, came out of the incident without a single charge in her name.
“I spent the night on a mat on a concrete floor in deplorable conditions while this woman, this squatter, slept in my home,” Loletha told WSB-TV, as quoted by the New York Post.
The homeowner said she had arrived at the property to clean up the house on December 9. What she didn’t expect to see was Sakemeyia on the property with someone else trying to impersonate her.
“I returned on Monday to start painting and she had broken the locks at my property,” Loletha said.
On December 9, a confrontation between the homeowner and the alleged squatter, Sakemeyia Johnson, ended with Loletha facing charges
Image credits: WSB-TV
“She just caught up out of nowhere. She had this guy with her, and I locked the door,” she continued. “I locked the screen door, and he forced himself in telling us to get out.”
After the homeowner refused to back down, police officers arrived at the scene and began siding with Sakemeyia.
They reportedly tried to reason with Loletha, implying that she should be considerate about people less fortunate than her.
“Just think of it from this perspective, though. Everybody isn’t as fortunate as you to have a bed. All the little things, a bed in their house, food in the kitchen,” the officer reportedly said.
“I spent the night on a mat on a concrete floor in deplorable conditions while this woman, this squatter, slept in my home,” Loletha said
Image credits: WSB-TV
Image credits: WSB-TV
But Loletha stood her ground, prompting the officers to handcuff her and haul her away from her own property.
“To see that woman walk into my mom’s house while I was in the police car, something is wrong with this picture. Something is inherently wrong with this picture,” the arrested woman said.
According to her arrest report, she allegedly removed Sakemeyia’s belongings forcibly and threatened to use violence.
She “executed an illegal eviction and forcibly removed Ms. Johnson’s belongings,” and at one point, “could clearly be heard stating ‘leave before I get my gun,’” the arrest report said.
The tussle over the property began all the way back in August when Loletha first caught the alleged squatter living inside the house.
Bodycam footage captured police siding with the squatter before the arrest, saying: “Everybody isn’t as fortunate as you to have a bed”
Image credits: WSB-TV
The homeowner maintained that she had no relation with Sakemeyia, who was merely a relative of a previously evicted tenant’s partner.
Although authorities initially cited Sakemeyia under Georgia’s new Squatter Reform Act, Clayton County Magistrate Court Judge Latrevia Lates-Johnson later ruled that she wasn’t a squatter due to her relation with the previously evicted tenant’s partner.
“I was written a citation saying I was a squatter. But a judge signed an order saying that I wasn’t a squatter,” Sakemeyia was heard saying in bodycam footage on the day of Loletha’s arrest.
After months of court proceedings, Loletha enjoyed a victory in court in November. She succeeded in legally ousting Sakemeyia from the property.
However, the alleged squatter did not heed the court’s decision, and Loletha was surprised to see her still residing at the property when she arrived to clean it up.
The case highlights a troubling rise in squatting disputes in Georgia, with reported cases increasing from three in 2017 to 198 in 2023
Image credits: WSB-TV
“How can she not be squatting when I’ve never had any type of contract relationship with this person?” Loletha told the outlet.
The police officers who arrested Loletha had confirmed with court staff that the homeowner had not yet obtained a “signed writ of possession.” This document would have allowed her to legally evict Sakemeyia.
The number of cases involving homeowners dragging squatters to court has seen an uptick in Georgia in recent years.
In 2017, the number of such cases taken to court in Georgia was only three. This number rose to 50 in 2021, according to a report by the Pacific Legal Foundation. The number of such civil cases further went up to 198 in 2023.
“This is insanity that people just think they can come in and take over somebody’s home. I mean, it’s just outrageous,” Gov. Brian Kemp told Fox News.
The governor signed the Georgia Squatter Reform Act this year, making squatting a crime in the state. The law is aimed at speeding up the eviction process and allowing property owners to seek compensation from squatters for damages.
“I bet the sheriff wouldn’t say that if it was someone up in his house,” one social media user said
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What do you think ?
Traveling Lady Railfan 4 weeks ago
Although there's probably more to the story, the fact that from 2017 to 2023 you go from 1 Court case (involving someone's squatting on your property) to 200 really says something. I don't understand squatters rights. If you can present evidence that you are the legal owner of said building/property and someone else is living here and not paying any rent/not in any type of contract, how is it not considered to be trespassing? What if something happens with the house what if the house needed repairs and the illegal squatters get hurt, who is going to be sued? It doesn't make any sense to me. Just like if somebody breaks into my home, trips over my cat's toys and hurts themselves, they can sue me? For breaking into my home?? This does not make any sense.
James Howell 4 weeks ago
Stop big corporations from buying so much of the homes!!!!! No one can afford to rent due to their greed!!
Bob Brooce 4 weeks ago
Squatter's rights have become a legal problem because old laws haven't been updated, and a practical problem largely because so many people can't afford a place to live. Like adverse possession, squatter's rights have their roots in the idea that property should be used and not left vacant. Also like adverse possession, it's very rarely a problem for property owners who are paying attention to their property. Once in a while people come back from a vacation and find somebody living in their house, but the vast majority of the time it happens because the family never sold Aunt Betty's house when she went into the nursing home or an absentee landlord waits a long time before looking for a new tenant. Once somebody moves in they generally have to stay for at least 30 days before they acquire squatter's or tenant's rights, after which they can only be removed after the same eviction proceedings necessary to get rid of a tenant that has stopped paying rent or [continues as a reply]
Bob Brooce 4 weeks ago
refuses to move out when their lease is up. The bottom line is that almost every property owner who ends up with squatters has neglected the property badly enough that they took at least 30 days to know somebody has been living there. In this case the squatter was served with an eviction notice on November 18. Maybe she should have been leaving then, or maybe it was 30 days notice to vacate and meant she had to be out by December 18. Either way, the owner apparently didn't get the related court order that she needed in order to legally remove the squatter and any possessions.
Load More Replies...
Harry Gondalf 4 weeks ago
Here's some advice that homeowners may find useful. Ask the proposed renter for a list of their last TWO rentals. Don't contact the previous landlord, as they may give a glowing response in order to get an unwanted tenant to leave. But the one before that ... you'll get the truth. And of course in this case you'd get nothing. An easy investigation.
General Anaesthesia 4 weeks ago
"The police officers who arrested Loletha had confirmed with court staff that the homeowner had _not yet_ obtained a “signed writ of possession.” This document would have allowed her to legally evict Sakemeyia." So, how does one obtain said writ? Why didn't Sakemeyia get it?
Bob Brooce 4 weeks ago (edited)
It's a court order that she got as a result of going to court. I'd imagine that the court would have attempted to serve the squatter, but (as with most court orders) you can't just wave it in somebody's face and enforce it yourself. Like other evictions, the squatter probably had 30 days after getting the notice before she was required to move out, and while the landlord or property owner can remove any belongings still on the property it usually requires having the sheriff serve the final notice that the deadline is past and they're leaving *now*.
Load More Replies...
Ash 4 weeks ago
No, Merica is when a *billionaire* gets to claim your house is his and the court sides with him.
Load More Replies...
Traveling Lady Railfan 4 weeks ago
Although there's probably more to the story, the fact that from 2017 to 2023 you go from 1 Court case (involving someone's squatting on your property) to 200 really says something. I don't understand squatters rights. If you can present evidence that you are the legal owner of said building/property and someone else is living here and not paying any rent/not in any type of contract, how is it not considered to be trespassing? What if something happens with the house what if the house needed repairs and the illegal squatters get hurt, who is going to be sued? It doesn't make any sense to me. Just like if somebody breaks into my home, trips over my cat's toys and hurts themselves, they can sue me? For breaking into my home?? This does not make any sense.
James Howell 4 weeks ago
Stop big corporations from buying so much of the homes!!!!! No one can afford to rent due to their greed!!
Bob Brooce 4 weeks ago
Squatter's rights have become a legal problem because old laws haven't been updated, and a practical problem largely because so many people can't afford a place to live. Like adverse possession, squatter's rights have their roots in the idea that property should be used and not left vacant. Also like adverse possession, it's very rarely a problem for property owners who are paying attention to their property. Once in a while people come back from a vacation and find somebody living in their house, but the vast majority of the time it happens because the family never sold Aunt Betty's house when she went into the nursing home or an absentee landlord waits a long time before looking for a new tenant. Once somebody moves in they generally have to stay for at least 30 days before they acquire squatter's or tenant's rights, after which they can only be removed after the same eviction proceedings necessary to get rid of a tenant that has stopped paying rent or [continues as a reply]
Bob Brooce 4 weeks ago
refuses to move out when their lease is up. The bottom line is that almost every property owner who ends up with squatters has neglected the property badly enough that they took at least 30 days to know somebody has been living there. In this case the squatter was served with an eviction notice on November 18. Maybe she should have been leaving then, or maybe it was 30 days notice to vacate and meant she had to be out by December 18. Either way, the owner apparently didn't get the related court order that she needed in order to legally remove the squatter and any possessions.
Load More Replies... Harry Gondalf 4 weeks ago
Here's some advice that homeowners may find useful. Ask the proposed renter for a list of their last TWO rentals. Don't contact the previous landlord, as they may give a glowing response in order to get an unwanted tenant to leave. But the one before that ... you'll get the truth. And of course in this case you'd get nothing. An easy investigation.
General Anaesthesia 4 weeks ago
"The police officers who arrested Loletha had confirmed with court staff that the homeowner had _not yet_ obtained a “signed writ of possession.” This document would have allowed her to legally evict Sakemeyia." So, how does one obtain said writ? Why didn't Sakemeyia get it?
Bob Brooce 4 weeks ago (edited)
It's a court order that she got as a result of going to court. I'd imagine that the court would have attempted to serve the squatter, but (as with most court orders) you can't just wave it in somebody's face and enforce it yourself. Like other evictions, the squatter probably had 30 days after getting the notice before she was required to move out, and while the landlord or property owner can remove any belongings still on the property it usually requires having the sheriff serve the final notice that the deadline is past and they're leaving *now*.
Load More Replies... Ash 4 weeks ago
No, Merica is when a *billionaire* gets to claim your house is his and the court sides with him.
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