Rogue California ‘plumber’ hijacks elderly woman’s home — then rents out rooms to strangers

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A San Diego “plumber” hired to fix an elderly woman’s pipes decided to hijack her home and rent it out to strangers instead.

Jordy Smith, 76, said she paid the “plumber” to fix some pipes while she and her partner temporarily relocated to another home. But he allegedly locked them out, transferred utilities into his name and began renting out rooms to strangers.

“He just took over and, like, before we knew it, there was like 15 people,” Smith told 10 News. “Once that happened, it really made it look like to the homeless people that were coming in, that made it look like it was his house,” Smith said.

Smith later learned the man was an unlicensed plumber. By then, she was unable to return to her own home. The experience left her shaken.

“I couldn’t sleep at night. I mean, it just seemed like we’d never get back home,” she said.

She contacted police and tried to force the “plumber” and his unauthorized renters out through the courts, but was unsuccessful. Smith even resorted to confronting the squatters in person.

“They would just lock the door and wouldn’t talk to us,” Smith said.

Complicating matters, Smith’s partner could not locate the paperwork proving he owned the home. He had been gifted the property by his mother through a trust, according to Kimrey Kotchick, co-founder of the Squatter Squad.

The Squatter Squad assists homeowners in removing squatters from their properties.

During the more than two years Smith was locked out of her home, San Diego police were called to the property numerous times for suspected drug deals, trespassing and smoke coming from the home, according to 10 News.

The owners finally located the paperwork, listed the home for sale and brought in the Squatter Squad. But it would take another five months to legally evict the plumber and his renters.

10 News footage from the day of the eviction showed the messy ordeal.

Some people at the home were hiding in vans and RVs as armed deputies evicted them from the property, the Squatter Squad said. Some even tried to get back onto the property later, but the Squatter Squad refused to let them return to the home, which had been left in disarray.

“They wanted to come back in, and we just can’t do that today. We have to secure the property. There’s huge code violations here,” Nicholas George, an unlawful detainer assistant and process server who works with the Squatter Squad, told 10 News.

Smith said her home had been destroyed by the squatters and several cherished possessions were gone. She ended up selling the home, but the ordeal left her traumatized.

“It was such a nice place before you would never know,” Smith said.

Smith hopes her story will prevent other homeowners from falling victim to squatters. She also wants tougher penalties for trespassers.

“Make some new laws and take care of the legitimate people that are having the problems because it really has caused a lot of stress for us a lot,” Smith said.

California is notoriously soft on squatters. According to the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles, it can take up to a year to get a person formally evicted after potentially months of unpaid rent.

And squatters often leave behind properties badly damaged, compounding the financial toll on homeowners.

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