San Diego woman says unlicensed plumber took over her home and rented rooms to strangers

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

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

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

Smith later learned the man was an unlicensed plumber. At that point, she was no longer able to return home. This experience shook her.

“I couldn’t sleep at night. I mean, it felt like we were never going to come home,” she said.

She contacted the police and attempted to force the “plumber” and his unauthorized tenants to appear in court, but was unsuccessful. Smith even resorted to confronting the squatters in person.

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

To complicate matters, Smith’s partner was unable to locate documents proving he owned the house. His mother gave him the property through a trust, according to Kimrey Kotchick, co-founder of the Squatter Squad.

The Squatter Squad helps landlords evict 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 multiple times for suspected drug dealing, trespassing and smoke coming from the home, according to 10 News.

The owners eventually located the documents, put the house up for sale and called in the Squatter Squad. But it would take another five months to legally evict the plumber and his tenants.

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

Some people in the house hid in vans and campers while armed police removed them from the property, the Squatter Squad said. Some even tried to return to the property afterwards, but the Squatter Squad refused to let them return to the house, which was left in disarray.

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

Smith said his house was destroyed by the squatters and several valuable possessions were missing. She eventually sold the house, but the ordeal left her traumatized.

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

Smith hopes his story will prevent other homeowners from becoming victims of squatters. She also wants tougher penalties for trespassers.

“Make new laws and take care of legitimate people who are having problems, because this has really caused us a lot of stress,” Smith said.

California is notoriously lenient on squatters. According to the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles, it can take up to a year for someone to be officially evicted after months of unpaid rent.

And squatters often leave behind severely damaged properties, adding to the financial burden on homeowners.

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