[DoggyStargazer]

Originally Posted by Shadywood

Well, I wouldn't count on the Sumter County cops for help. They refused to even help me evict a burglar.

Yesterday, I drove straight to my new turn-key rental property, from the closing that deeded everything but the toilet paper to me. I discovered the prior owners in my new living room, helping themselves to my new TV. They had already stolen a chair and various wall decorations, including an expensive wall-mounted grandfather clock, all of which I'd discovered and documented during the walk-through that morning. The closers were no help in recovering my stolen property, and it would have cost $10K to cancel the deal. So after signing, I raced to Lowes and then to the property, to change the locks as quickly as possible. The sellers beat me there.

I called 911, and after numerous attempts to get through, the moment I mentioned that I'd just bought the house, they refused to get involved and told me to "contact my closer".

After a lot of shouting (and insults to my Southern heritage), the burglars finally left without my TV, claiming they had only invaded my property to get the cable box. How that makes it OK, I guess you'll have to ask a non-hillbilly. In any case, the only thing they left with was some piece of furniture in their trunk that I hadn't seen until they they were driving away. Whatever it was, it wasn't in my pictures from the prior inspection a couple of weeks earlier, but there was a flattened place in the bedroom carpet.

They could have had all of it, if they'd just asked, instead of stealing it. I didn't buy the house for the furniture.

But the most alarming thing I learned is that our cops apparently refuse to get involved in burglaries where they might be called upon to break up a fight. That doesn't bode well for your problem of evicting a squatter.

Wow! So sorry that happened. What a nightmare!