PLYMOUTH, MASS. (WHDH) - The excitement of moving back home was quickly replaced by shock for Meghan McIntyre.
“It’s like a never-ending nightmare,” McIntyre said.
The nightmare started last fall when McIntyre and her boyfriend decided to move back to Plymouth and purchase their own home. Months later, instead of moving into the house they bought, they are forced to rent an apartment while also paying the mortgage on a home they aren’t allowed to live in. Instead, someone else is living in the house.
“I never knew something like this could happen,” McIntyre said.
She believed the foreclosed property they purchased was vacant and abandoned.
However, after she got the keys, the surprises started.
“We got a call actually the day that we were moving back up here. We got a call from someone who was living there previously. Never an owner. Never a tenant. Never paid rent. She wanted to move back in, we said no,” McIntyre recalled.
The surprises didn’t stop there.
“The next day we got a call from the housing court that we had a court date,” she said.
The judge ruled that McIntyre had to give the woman the keys and allow her to stay at the house.
Court records show the woman who was fighting to stay in the house was the daughter of the previous owner. She had lived in the house and cared for her mother until she died without a will. The woman told the court she never abandoned the house and was in the hospital when it was sold. The judge ruled she can stay in the house.
“I’m not trying to make anyone homeless but at the end of the day, it is putting a huge burden on me and something that I didn’t sign up for just as a civilian to have to take responsibility for someone,” McIntyre said.
Real estate attorney Jordana Greenman said the case isn’t such a shock to her.
“Is it horrifying? Absolutely. Should this be happening? Absolutely not. Can it happen? Yes,” Greenman said.
She explained even when a home goes through foreclosure, the new owners can’t evict anyone without a court order.
“It is another one of those things that in Massachusetts with all of the consumer protection rules, nobody can be unhoused per se, without a court order,” Greenman explained. “It might boil down to how much are they willing to pay to get this person out. And then they’ll go, which is really very upsetting. It should not be so difficult.”
Greenman has handled multiple cases that involve evictions following a foreclosure. She said the process can be lengthy and costly.
McIntyre learned all of this the hard way.
Before she could even pursue an eviction, a judge ordered her to pay for a whole list of expenses.
McIntyre said they had to pay to restore the floors after they ripped up the carpet to replace them. McIntyre is paying the utility bills and even had to put the woman up in a hotel and pay for her meals when the heat stopped working in the home.
McIntyre said this is on top of her paying for the mortgage, HOA fees and rent. She estimated they are paying around $10,000 a month just in housing.
7 Investigates spoke with the woman living in McIntyre’s house. She called the situation ‘terrible’ but declined to comment further.
“I’m doing what I believe is right and I’m sure she is doing what she believes is right in her own way so I think the justice system isn’t stepping up and helping either of us,” McIntyre said. “It’s just an ongoing circle and nothing is getting resolved.”
McIntyre did file an eviction case. To avoid going to trial and dragging the wait out more, they reached an agreement. Under the deal, the woman gets to stay until the end of March and McIntyre has to pay her $7,500 to put towards a new apartment.
Experts warn buying a foreclosed home can be risky. Greenman suggests anyone who is considering it runs a title search and tries to gather as much information as possible regarding the property and any former occupants.
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