The 50-year residents of Colorado Springs, William and Arlene Towns’ family, are battling to reclaim their land.
The daughters of a couple in Colorado Springs are claiming that their parents’ fifty-year-old home has been taken over by a homeless lady, her boyfriend, and her son, who are taking advantage of their father’s dementia.
In a GoFundMe page for legal costs, William Towns’ daughters stated that their 76-year-old father discovered the lady was living out of her car when he saw her while out walking his dog. While Arlene, his wife, recovered from a serious heart surgery, she was living with one of her daughters.
“He accepted the homeless woman’s offer to help with some household tasks. Tasks evolved into taking occasional showers and spending a few days, as far as he knew, sleeping in a guest room at his house,” Towns’ daughters wrote.
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However, the lady “quickly took advantage” of the guy, bringing her boyfriend, her cat, her 15-year-old son, two non-functioning cars, and many other possessions into the residence.
“[The boyfriend] harasses our dad and our family and friends when asked to leave,” the girls complained. “He has provoked altercations with our dad on numerous occasions and gets into arguments with a number of unknown other groups of people that come by the property to seek him out.”
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now “extremely uncomfortable having these people and their associates in his home, and is fearful of his safety when at the house.”
The daughters allege that in addition to “underage drug use,” the settlers have set up a “mushroom growing operation” in the couple’s living room, “turn on faucets and the hose just to let water run,” and “leave every light on in the house 24/7.” They also allege that the settlers “intentionally flash” firearms at the home’s security cameras.
“They spend their days living in the home as if it is their own, rummaging through drawers and cupboards, going through storage items, using all appliances, dishes, tools, food in the refrigerator and pantries, etc.,” the website reads.
“Our parents, grandparents, or any other family members never gave these people permission to occupy the house or its grounds permanently, but since they have been there for longer than a few days, they are entitled to the house and are free to do with it as they, please.
“This isn’t their first rodeo, and they have taken full advantage of the system and know the law is in their favor and seem to live confidently that they will have free housing and utilities for months through this process.”
According to their daughters, the Towns couple is on a fixed income and receives their Social Security benefits; hence, they cannot pay the high legal costs of removing their unwanted guests. They stated that a lawyer would bill $400 to $500 per hour plus a retainer of $1,800. Concurrently, the family asserts that the settlers “acquire free legal assistance, court costs excluded, all necessary documentation given directly to them—everything presented to them on an opulent plate.”
The family claimed they had “exhaustively” requested assistance from the Colorado Springs Police Department. “Many times dispatch doesn’t come at all; others it takes 24+ hours for an officer to come, and when they do, they speak to this woman and her boyfriend and they do not give them permission to enter the property, so they can’t do anything.”
“We feel so helpless, and each day that goes by and each new failed attempt to ask for help from law enforcement leaves us feeling less and less trust in the system’s ability to keep our community safe,” the daughters wrote in a letter. “We just don’t know what else to do, and just sitting around for months watching while our parents are scared to live in their home is unbearable, unfair, and absolutely unacceptable.”
The Colorado Springs Police Department informed Fox 21 that the case would probably need a court order, judge’s ruling, and enforcement by El Paso County because the accused squatters were allowed inside. Therefore, it is not trespassing, and the Sheriff’s Office handles evictions.
At the time of publication, Fox News Digital could not contact the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office or the Colorado Springs Police Department for comment.
Partner Kevin Hughes of the California-based Foundation Law Group specializes in real estate litigation. “From a legal perspective, the key here is the permission – if the people were not invited into the home, they’d be squatters, trespassing, and you could go directly to law enforcement,” Hughes told Fox News Digital. “Ultimately, you still need to go through the formal eviction procedure. They are entitled to due process and have rights.
“The first thing you should do is get an eviction attorney.” Eventually, you’ll have to write them a letter stating that their tenancy rights are terminated and that they must vacate by this date. You should also provide them with explicit notice of this demand. That marks the beginning of the process.
Hughes stated that the couple could file an eviction complaint if the intruders did not depart by that time. A judge may grant sheriff’s deputies an order to remove the undesired family after an additional thirty to forty-five days.
