Just days after a Channel 2 Action News investigation exposed an Instagram account that was allowing people across metro Atlanta to squat in homes, we’ve learned that a new bill has been introduced at the State Capitol designed to stop squatters from stealing homes.
The Georgia Squatter Reform Act makes it clear that squatting is a crime to be handled by police.
“House Bill 1017 says to squatters, ‘No more freeloading, no more free rides,” state Rep. Matt Reeves said.
It’s a potential legislative solution to a problem that we have been reporting on over the past year in a series of Channel 2 Action News stories – squatters moving into properties like Michael Holmes’ DeKalb County house and taking advantage of legal protections for renters to stay rent free for months.
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“If I can’t bring this to some type of resolution, I’ll be in jeopardy of filing bankruptcy,” Holmes told Gray.
“This bill will make it criminal trespassing so the police can come and take them out of the house,” state. Rep. Devan Seabaugh said.