Note: Pope is the man's last name. Don't confuse him with the Pope like I did! XD Pope had taken his dogs to nearby park and then stayed with a friend and returned two days later to find a family in his home. (SUPPLIED) A pensioner in Essex who took his dogs out for a walk to a nearby park on Thursday returned to find a family had moved into his home. George Pope, 72, was unable to get into his council house because the locks were changed, reports the 'Daily Mail'. The arthritis sufferer, who needs a stick to walk, started feeling ill and decided to stay at a friend's house until he was well enough to go home. But when he returned to his house on Saturday morning, he was stunned to discover his locks had been changed. He claims a man then walked up the path to his house and accosted him. "I said, 'This is my place'. But he said, 'This is our property and we intend to stay here unless you go to court'. It made me feel ill." He added: "I have been shaking ever since. I get panic attacks. It's just terrible." Pope immediately called the council and police. But he claims they told him the new occupants could not be evicted because they were themselves victims of a scam. Pope said police claimed the residents, who he believes are from Lithuania, had paid £3,000 to a bogus estate agent to rent the property themselves for six months. The retired Dagenham Ford worker, who was forced to stay with friends, said: "Police told me it looked like a civil matter. But the squatters were using my home, my gas and my electricity - it's absolutely disgraceful." Pope went back to his house on Monday morning to find all his belongings had been thrown out. Neighbours then helped the him gather up his documents, photographs and clothes. Pope suspects illegal estate agents of occupying buildings and letting them for money. "I had been out for just two-and-a-half days. Someone must have been watching me," he said. "The rear door had been levered out with screwdrivers - that's how they got in." "My neighbours are now too frightened to go out anywhere in case the same happens to them," he added. A Met Police spokeswoman said: "Police are investigating a civil dispute where there may have been fraudulent sub-letting of the premises. Anyone with information concerning the person who has fraudulently advertised this property for rent and subsequently changed the locks should contact Barking and Dagenham Police." Pope, who has lived in the house for four years, was able to move back into his home last night after the family fled but said he is now scared to be there because next door is also being occupied by squatters. He also claims some of his possessions, including a washing machine and an electric cooker have been taken and that the electricity system has been tampered with. "The wiring has been ripped out and there are burn marks," he said. "The whole experience has been really traumatic." A Barking and Dagenham council spokesman said council officers visited the house yesterday and found it to be empty, allowing Mr Pope to move back in. "The council’s repair service changed the locks and Mr Pope was able to return to his home," he said. "This was a highly unusual situation and we are working closely with the police to try and determine exactly what happened. By taking quick action we have been able to restore Mr Pope to his home without the need to apply to court for an eviction notice. This would have been a very lengthy process. We are also aware of a housing association property in this street that is also being squatted. We have contacted the housing association concerned and have asked them to try and resolve the situation. We are extremely pleased that Pope is back in his own home."
What the... that's just ridiculous. It makes me disturbed to hear that there actual scams like this going on. Maybe it's been going on for some time now, but this is the first time that I've heard about it. I know that I would absolutely freak if I came home after a period of time to someone living there telling me to get off their property...:X
i feel sorry for the guy i live in a good area hardly anything like that happens but damn... thats bad
this is just messed up but what i don't get is why they couldn't kick them out. i mean i know they were scammed but how does that give them the right to do that to him?
Gees... that's really messed up. And yeah, that is highly unusual. I heard of squatters who move into abadon trailer homes and live there, but actually walking into someone's house with their stuff still in there and taking it over? Wow. I guess people should start investing in installing alarms in their house, so when they leave, a scam like this won't go so unnoticed.
With the amount of foreclosers going on in the U.S., I'm not surprised. Though by the currency, it seems to be in Britain. With foreclosed homes, people move in and sadly, cannot be evicted under certain circumstances. My aunt has a squatter in a house she rents out. She is supposed to rent, but she doesn't pay a penny to rent it. It happens all the time, sadly. This one seems to be either they were part of the scam, they were desperate for a home, no matter how low it was, or they didn't give a crap. All three are possible.
People's scam seem to get stranger and stranger. I think it's strange how someone would actually steal someones house like that and in just 2 days, that is quite impressive I must admit. The people who moved in must have been stalking him to know when he'd leave and the reason why he was leaving and the fact that he'd be gone a couple of days. I know he says this but I was just specifying. It is an odd situation and the people obviously fled because they saw that was the only way out, unless their main goal was actually to mess up the wiring and leave, it would surely be an inconvenience.
Essex is in the UK, yeah. This is a place where it doesn't 'happen all the time'. It doesn't matter if they were scammed or not, they should've been arrested and the council should be launching an inquiry as to why their building (since council houses are indeed owned and maintained by the local council) was allowed to be sold/let out as such.
Sadly, in most cases, even in the hot deserts where there's little chances of you dying of exposure. You cannot arrest someone for living in a house. At least in the U.S., it's the cause with my aunt. Though she hasn't tried, the laws are very clear you cannot arrest someone in these circumstances. If they stole the washer/dryer and destroyed the electrical systems. Either they really wanted to trash the place before leaving out of spite or they actually knew they were going to live there for a while, or most likely, they were part of the scam.
