Georgia squatters unshaken by recent law change, return to Atlanta home: 'They don't respect the law'
Georgia House candidate Mel Keyton insists the issue is 'bigger than' the new law
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Squatters wreaking havoc on Georgia House candidate Mel Keyton's Atlanta-area community have been persistent, ushering in drugs and prostitution and even breaking in again after being removed by police over the weekend.
Under a new bipartisan-backed bill signed by Gov. Brian Kemp last month, squatting has shifted from a civil matter to a criminal offense, but Keyton said the change hasn't had time to bear much impact on criminal behavior just yet.
"It's really just burglary and these people, the squatters that we have had in our community, have had guns and sex trafficking and one overdosed on fentanyl, and these people have guns, so they are comfortable with going into someone's house, not knowing if they are really there or if they want to come home or not, so I think it needs to be stiffer penalties," he told Fox News Digital on Tuesday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Squatters were apprehended at an Atlanta-area home after taking over for months, but returned later and were arrested again, according to Georgia House candidate Mel Keyton. (Courtesy of Mel Keyton)
The South Fulton Police Department arrived in Keyton's neighborhood on Saturday and arrested six squatters who took over a nearly half-million-dollar home around last Christmas and stole a neighbor's car while they were out of town.
Keyton told Fox News Digital that wasn't the end of the story.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Two got felonies and three or four got trespassing charges. They came back later, and they got arrested twice. And then, after that, at 1:00 a.m., they came back again," he said.
"They don't really think the law is going to affect them until they see real repercussions, so I don't think anybody really is afraid of it right now," he added.
Keyton elaborated, saying that, once word gets out that offenders can face penalties for squatting, they might begin to reconsider their actions.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"They don't think it's serious right now, because, sometimes criminals get away with stuff so long, they just act like it's no big deal. It's just a civil matter, and they tell their friends that."
GEORGIA POLICE REMOVE SQUATTERS ALLEGEDLY OCCUPYING HOME SINCE CHRISTMAS
Police arrested six squatters in the home. Mel Keyton said they had been living inside the property since Christmas. (Courtesy of Mel Keyton)
While squatters were previously only criminally charged for offenses outside squatting – charges like theft, for instance – the new Georgia Squatter Reform Act enables homeowners to go through the removal process more quickly, granting them more leverage than before.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The law also makes squatting a misdemeanor offense, punishable by up to one year in jail, a $1,000 fine, or both.
Squatters must present documentation or be out in three days, according to bill sponsor Georgia Rep. Devan Seabaugh. If the squatter presents a lease, the case goes to magistrate court, and fake leases carry an extra felony charge, Atlanta's WSB-TV reports.
The law became effective as soon as it was signed by Gov. Kemp last month.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Once squatters become aware of this, Keyton speculated there could potentially be change.
"Once you do a misdemeanor so many times, it's considered high and aggravated and then it could actually be a felony," he said.
The home Keyton mentioned was far from the only property to be taken over in the Atlanta-area community, however. At one point, 18 others had been seized by squatters, according to a local report.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}SQUATTERS RETURN TO GEORGIA NEIGHBORHOOD AFTER ARREST: ‘WORST CRIMINAL ACTIVITY I’VE EVER SEEN'
Keyton, who is the president of the Hampton Oaks Homeowners Association and is running as a Democrat in the Peach State's 65th State House District, reacted to Georgia's new squatting law with some positivity, saying the change is a step in the right direction, but said the issue is much bigger.
"I'm happy for Gov. Kemp and the elected officials who brought it [the bill] to the table, but it's bigger than this," he said. "The problem I see mostly is with these corporations… 95% of our problems come from these corporations who do lease purchase programs, and they don't have a real underwriting process, so these people get into these houses, and it's really just predatory lending, and they know they have predatory lending practices.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"We have to get these corporations to check because they really don't want to be in the business of being landlords, and it caused more harm than help to communities like mine."
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Fox News' Greg Wehner contributed to this report.