A Chicago man moved in with squatters who took over his property because the police wouldn’t evict them. Marco Velazquez had enough. After squatters allegedly finessed their way into his home and claimed they bought the place, the homeowner decided to take drastic action. According to ABC 7 Chicago, Marco and his wife physically moved into the house with the squatters—sleeping in the living room while the unauthorized couple occupied a bedroom.
“The worst thing happened when police told me they couldn’t do anything,” Velazquez told the outlet. Because of state law, local authorities told him the matter would have to go through civil court. That meant no quick solution. So Marco and his family took matters into their own hands.
How the Squatters Took Over—and Why Police Couldn’t Stop It
The squatters, identified as Shermaine and her boyfriend Codarro, reportedly showed up with fake documents and claimed to have purchased the property. While they allegedly flashed a mortgage document to back up their claim, Cook County officials later confirmed that there were no legitimate records proving any sale.
Still, Chicago police couldn’t remove the couple. Why? Because under Illinois state law, disputes over property possession like this must be handled in civil court—not by police intervention.
That left Marco in a frustrating legal gray area. “We stayed a whole night with them,” he said. “They stayed in one of the bedrooms. We stayed in the living room, watching the door.” The squatters even tried to negotiate their exit, reportedly asking for $8,000 to leave the home. After some back and forth, Marco ended up paying $4,300 to get them out.
The Plot Twist: One Squatter Was Already Wanted for a Similar Scam
Just when Velazquez thought the saga was over, the story took an unexpected turn. A Chicago detective contacted him weeks later to let him know that Shermaine, one of the squatters, had been arrested in another squatting case.
According to authorities, she was charged with:
- Obstructing identification
- Burglary
- Forgery
- Criminal residential trespassing
That’s right—this wasn’t her first rodeo. She was allegedly involved in a separate squatting incident where she pulled a similar move on another homeowner.
