DELTONA, Fla. – Carol Hopkins says she never dreamed her act of goodwill would turn into such a nightmare.
She said earlier this year, she allowed a young couple to stay inside her backyard shed to keep from the cold.
“They said they had nowhere to go,” Hopkins said.
Hopkins said her disabled grandson is the one who invited the couple onto their property after he met them on the streets and took pity on them and their situation.
It was supposed to be a temporary stay. Nine months later, they are still there.
“Anybody can move into your house, your property, and do anything they want,” Hopkins said.
Hopkins said the alleged squatters have covered up the windows and put a padlock on the shed door to keep her and her family out, even though this is her property and her shed.
Hopkins said she’s tried to keep them out of her shed, but nothing seems to work.
“I put a lock on it. It didn't work, because they took a crowbar to it,” Hopkins said. “I shut the power off, and they ripped the power box open and called the police.”
Calls for service from the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office show deputies did show up, but there was nothing they could do, since it was considered a landlord-tenant matter.
Hopkins said she never offered them a lease or told them they could stay long-term. She said she’s begged them to leave, but they’ve ignored her requests.
“They refuse to go,” said Dorothy Genton, who is Hopkins' daughter and lives with her at the Finland Drive property. “I feel terrible. I feel like it’s my fault because I told them they could stay a couple of days because it was so cold. But then they wouldn’t leave. They even sent their mail here.”
News 6 called the couple to get their side of the story. The woman who answered the phone said they had been paying the family to rent the shed and didn’t understand what all the fuss was about. She said they planned to move out of the shed this weekend.
Both Hopkins and Genton said that’s not true and claim the couple tried to extort them for thousands of dollars to get them to leave.
Genton said they did go to the Volusia County courthouse to start eviction proceedings but learned it would cost them hundreds of dollars to do so.
Hopkins said she just wants them to leave immediately and stop taking advantage of the situation.
Shortly after News 6 visited the property and called the couple, Hopkins called the News 6 newsroom to say the couple had returned to the property and was packing up their stuff.
For more information about what rights Floridians have when it comes to removing unwanted house guests, click here.