A Seattle woman says she came home to find homeless squatters setting up a tent in her backyard.
The home is for sale. Lisa, the owner, who asked KIRO-TV not to use her full name or identify the house so it would not interfere with her sale, said one man expressed interest in buying the house Friday. She told him to come back with an agent.
When she came home Monday, she said she found that man and another one in her backyard setting up a tent and drinking out of the hose. She said they'd spread items out on the patio and the stairs, too. She said they'd even brought religious statues to put on the steps.
Lisa said she screamed and told them they were trespassing and to leave. She said one man walked up to her and told her that she was the one trespassing, claiming he owns the house.
"The delusion is what scares me. You never know what somebody's capable of when they don't have rational thought," Lisa said.
Neighbors rushed over and scared the men off while Lisa called 911. While an officer was taking a report, the men came back. Lisa thinks they came to get their belongings.
"I feel completely violated," Lisa said. "I've spent my last seven years putting my hard work and money into this house, and I feel fiercely protective. But at the same time, I don't want to threaten my own safety by protecting this property."
She said the men have been back five times. Lisa had a friend stay at the house Tuesday night, and he was armed.
Lisa worries they’ll be back.
"Who is to say it might not happen again?" she said.
Lisa also spoke to KIRO Radio's Dori Monson, who reported this story Wednesday afternoon. Listen to that interview from the Dori Monson Show below.
Seattle police took the items from the backyard and are investigating the pair for trespassing and prowling, according to the police report. Officers have been called out to the house several times.
>> Listen to the KIRO Radio interview here
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