ENCINITAS, Calif. (KGTV) — A $2 million house in Encinitas was nearly destroyed by squatters who signed a lease to pay rent but didn’t, and instead moved in, put their motorcycle in the owner’s studio, locked her out of her own house, damaged appliances and destroyed the pool.
Owner Brandy Michelle Yandel says she had countless nights of nightmares about how they were destroying her house, and they did.
It took two years and $250,000 to move the squatters out.
In the meantime, they took total control of her home. She converted her garage to a studio with a bed for her to stay in while they had the rest of the five-bedroom home.
But she came home the day after they moved in to find her small space filled with their stuff, including a motorcycle.
Yandel told Team 10, “I felt like I was a criminal. I got locked out of my own house, I couldn't go get a change of clothes, a toothbrush, with the cops or anything."
She says they drilled her backyard fence shut, making it impossible for her to access her studio space without jumping over it.
Police told her it was a civil matter and they could not help or even escort her into her own home.
The pool was seriously damaged: $15,000 to resurface, repaint and fix the plumbing. The water even turned green.
"It looked like some sort of swamp monster was gonna crawl out of there. I didn't know what was going to be at the bottom," says Yandell.
Team 10 has been looking into the squatter issue for months.
We first revealed the troubles on Dale Street in North Park. It took a fire to get the police to force the owner to board up and sign the papers allowing them to evict squatters.
WATCH: See senior investigator Jim Avila's report from August in the immediate aftermath of the fire at the squatter house
On Nov. 20, we were alerted to an abandoned house on Cotton in the Chollas View area housing squatters.
Noah Hamm lives across the street from the home on Cotton, and he's frustrated by the city of San Diego's lack of action.
"We're paying all these tax dollars and stuff to help serve our city, but they're not doing anything about it," says Hamm.
We asked the City’s program manager for the Building and Land Use Enforcement Department about the difficulty of removing squatters.
She recommends filing a complaint with the city and asking the landlord to obtain a letter of agency, which allows police to evict.
Then, she advises being patient. An investigation will begin within five days, but it won’t move quickly.
"It could take anywhere from three months to a year, depending on what the scope is," program manager Suki Jacal warns.
And as Mayor Todd Gloria told Team 10, infringing on personal property rights is difficult.
"The reason why it's often difficult is because it's private property, and the way that you wouldn't want me rolling into your house and telling you what to do on your property," Gloria said.
At some point, Brandy Michelle Yandell might have welcomed authorities on her property. Her advice: Do a full background check.
"Once you invite them in, you don't know what can happen from there," says Yandell.
As many San Diego homeowners have found out, it can take years and thousands of dollars to remove squatters.
