The ‘Squatter Hunter’ Goes Viral for Confronting Unlawful Tenants

Flash Shelton would be the first to inform you that he by no means imagined his life would evolve into this.

On any given day, he’s wearing black tactical physique armor, armed with pepper spray, a stun gun, a metal baton, a physique cam and, often, a Glock 26 pistol strapped to his aspect — with a cap bearing a brusque message: “Get Out.”

These are all instruments of the commerce for a man who says he commonly confronts people who find themselves illegally occupying uninhabited houses.

His goal? To make the squatters perceive that he’s transferring in and staying put till they depart.

Not surprisingly, the trespassers — whose eviction may usually contain as much as a 12 months’s value of authorized wrangling and tens of 1000’s of {dollars} in legal professional’s charges for the house owner — are sometimes gone in hours, Shelton tells PEOPLE.

“It began as a result of I used to be attempting to be an excellent son,” says Shelton, whose YouTube movies of his encounters have helped the 57-year-old longtime handyman and bouncer rise to web fame, full with a handy guide a rough title: The Squatter Hunter.

Broadly talking, consultants have stated, squatting is a uncommon challenge. However incidents like these spotlighted by Shelton have attracted an increasing number of consideration — from the general public and from lawmakers.

“What I believe is going on is that it’s only a good story,” Sateesh Nori, an adjunct New York College regulation professor, informed The Washington Put up in April.

“It’s fairly horrible what’s occurred to those householders — however I don’t assume there may be some type of epidemic,” Nori stated then.

Even when they’re numerically uncommon, the instances of squatting will be confounding for the property house owners. Shelton says he has seen firsthand what it is prefer to take care of them successfully.

Again in 2019 after the demise of his father, his mom was attempting to promote her then-vacant residence in Northern California however was unable to as a result of a gaggle of individuals had moved in with all their belongings, he says. “The police informed me that there was nothing they may do — it was a civil matter,” he recollects.

So Shelton spent a weekend studying every little thing he might concerning the costly and infrequently drawn-out course of usually required to take away squatters from a residence and the way he couldn’t legally simply toss them off the property.

In order that’s when he got here up with the thought of getting his mother write up a lease, which not solely made him the official tenant of the property but in addition allowed him to legally enter her residence.

Subsequent, he made the 10-hour drive from his residence in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley to his mother’s place and performed detective, watching because the people got here and went from the property.

Shelton — who possesses the quiet, no-nonsense demeanor of a person who doesn’t take pleasure in repeating himself — put in safety cameras inside and outdoors the house. When one of many girls returned, he confronted her, filming the encounter.

“I principally stated, ‘Look, I’ve possession of this home now. You’ve acquired till the tip of the day to get the stuff out. No matter’s left is mine. I’ve put up cameras and an alarm system and I’ll prosecute you in case you make an try and get again in the home,’ ” Shelton says now.

The group rented a truck and have been cleared out by midnight, he says.

4 years later, when Shelton lastly acquired round to posting footage from that encounter in 2023, the video rapidly went viral and now has greater than 6.3 million views.

Earlier than lengthy, different property house owners — who have been searching for another choice moreover hiring an legal professional in an effort to take away squatters from their houses — started reaching out, asking for Shelton’s assist, he says.

“I in all probability do three or 4 consultations over the telephone a day,” Shelton says, including that he averages three face-to-face “conditions” with squatters throughout the nation every month. “Some folks say I’m doing godly work. Others say I’m doing the work of the satan.”

Shelton — who says he lately signed a manufacturing deal to rework his adventures right into a TV present — spoke with PEOPLE about the issue of squatting, as he is skilled it, together with the ins and outs of his newfound commerce.

What kind of leg work do you do after a house owner hires you?

Quite a lot of instances I do not bodily need to go the property. I get to know who the squatters are. I run backgrounds. I discover out who their household is. I am going to put collectively a video [of the squatters entering and leaving the property], then I am going to speak to them about how I will expose them on my YouTube channel.

And in some instances, if it is any person who’s anxious about having the ability to lease a property sooner or later or in the event that they’re anxious about their status on social media or about shedding their job, then that’s all I’ve to do — they usually depart. 

And if that doesn’t work?

Then I begin what I name the “lockout” section, the place myself and one other man do a stakeout. We wait and look ahead to them to depart the property, then we change locations with them and anticipate them to return. We at all times notify regulation enforcement about what we’re doing. If that’s not efficient, the subsequent step is the “move-in” section. That includes myself and one other man — some conditions require us to usher in further guys — and we transfer in.

That seems like a recipe for catastrophe.

Approaching the squatters for the primary time is just about probably the most intense a part of what I do as a result of I am blindsiding them. Impulsively I am simply transferring in with them they usually’re calling regulation enforcement pondering that I will be informed that I want to depart, however as a result of I’ve a lease from the property proprietor I’ve a proper to remain.

Thus far, knock on wooden, it has by no means turned violent. I am at all times 100% clear about who we’re — squatter hunters.

What kind of, let’s say, communication abilities do you use when coping with squatters and attempting to persuade them to vacate a property?

It varies relying on the state of affairs. Deciding after I have to be intense or when my voice must be soothing is dictated by their reactions. In the event that they’re intense and yelling at me, I am not going to yell like I am uncontrolled. I’m stern. I will elevate my voice and I will simply speak to them like I am their PE instructor or I am their drill sergeant.

I used to be a baseball coach for 26 years and a enterprise proprietor for 40 years. I used to coach bouncers. The No. 1 rule of being a bouncer is you you could’t take something private. Additionally, I am used to being accountable for my conditions. So I’ll rapidly take management of the state of affairs, and it is not going to be me simply screaming and yelling as a result of that’s not what any person who is robust and in authority does.

I simply persist with what I am saying and repeat it again and again. I’m going into each single state of affairs anticipating the worst and adapting to one of the best.

What occurs subsequent?

I’ll say, “Hey, let’s have a dialog. I simply need to speak to you about what’s occurring right here.” After which I clarify to them that we’re actually going to maneuver in, that I will occupy this house, and that we will put cameras up in all places however their bed room and loo.

Then, relying on the state of affairs, I simply do what comes pure to me. [Whether] which means ransacking the kitchen cupboards or opening the fridge to ask, “Oh my gosh, what’s for dinner?” If, in sure conditions, I am unable to flip off the ability, the fuel or the water, I’ll disable issues to the place the fuel is on however they’re nonetheless taking chilly showers. I’m adaptable.

If the house owner tells me that they are attempting to get their home again in order that they’ll renovate it, then I do know I can begin knocking holes in partitions. I can take a chainsaw and minimize doorways in half. I can pull kitchen cupboards down. I find it irresistible when the home does not matter, as a result of then I can flip their dwelling house right into a nightmare by beginning the renovation earlier than they [the squatters] transfer out.

How stunned are you that there is TV curiosity primarily based in your encounters with squatters?

I actually had zero thought. I assumed, “Okay, I am going to shoot a video of my interplay to guard myself.” Again then I had a YouTube channel known as “Handyman Solutions” and I assumed possibly I’ll put up it there. However I held onto it for 4 years and at last posted it at first of 2023. I had no thought it might take off prefer it did, however I’m glad it did. And I am glad that I have been capable of convey consciousness to this challenge.