SAN DIEGO — A San Diego woman says squatters are living in her rental home and she can't get rid of them, despite them owing nine months of unpaid rent.
Barbara Gunner filed an eviction case, but the judge ruled against her, twice.
Gunner, 81, estimated six people are living in her Encanto rental house, which she has owned for decades. She said none of them have written leases.
They took over the property after her longtime tenant died, Gunner said.
“It's a terrible thing. But your hands are tied. To do things legally, you have to go by what the judge says,” Gunner said.
Gunner represented herself in the eviction litigation, which she acknowledged was a mistake.
It all came down to what the judge called a “verbal lease agreement” formalized when Gunner accepted initial rent payments from one of the tenants.
Gunner's husband, Roy, is a retired criminal attorney and he still doesn't understand the complicated ruling.
“It's damn near impossible to get anybody out of the house. They come in and tell any lie, and that's enough to squeeze by these current laws in California,” Roy Gunner said.
“They're taking advantage of the situation. They don't intend to pay a nickel and don't intend to move,” the husband continued.
CBS reached out to the main tenant on the property, Tina Jackson, who was named in the eviction case. She did not return our call.
Two other tenants, Christina Williams and Christopher Thorne, spoke to CBS 8 at the property.
“She lost twice in her unlawful detainer. And she was told by the judge that she could not come down here and do repairs, and have the tenants removed. But she doesn't care what the court said,” Williams said.
Asked if she thinks the landlord deserves to have rent paid, Williams responded, “Yeah, I’m not disputing that she does deserve to have her rent paid. But there's a way to go about things. If you tried to forcibly remove somebody and you lost (in court), then you go back to a starting point and try to resolve that.”
Gunner said the tenants did pay rent for a few months and admitted the house needs repairs. She is preparing to return to eviction court, yet again, this time with a retained attorney.
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