Medford, Ore. — When we go out of town we like to think we’ll come back to our home in the same condition we left it. That’s not the case for one Medford family.
Medford Police Lieutenant Mike Budreau said 63-year-old Raymond Calvert forced entry into their home on Jeanette Avenue in West Medford. He said a friend who was looking after the house found him there Monday. Calvert said, as a squatter, he said he had a right to be there.
“He claimed squatter’s rights, but that’s not something he can claim that did not fly at all,” Budreau said.
Calvert was arrested and faces criminal mischief and burglary charges.
A squatter is a person who settles on land or occupies property without a title, right, or payment of rent. Budreau said if they move into vacant homes they can be arrested for trespassing. However, it gets tricky when a person living in a home gives a squatter verbal permission to be there then moves out.
“It gets a little grey when a home or apartment is occupied then the occupancy changes hands without the landlord’s knowledge,” Budreau said. “That becomes more difficult to try and figure out.”
He said in that case, sometimes legal action has to be taken to get the squatter out of the residence.
A broker with John L. Scott Real Estate, Alice Lema, said she and other coworkers dealt with squatters multiple times after the recession.
“When there were a lot of foreclosures we would open doors and I’ve personally had people scurry out the back door because they were living there,” she said.
Now she warns investors who may have empty homes or be between tenants to keep a close eye on the property so they don’t find any surprises when they visit the residence.
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