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A Chicago woman completely renovated her home and was excited to put it up for sale until something very unusual was found inside. According to ABC7, Danielle Cruz called police when her contractor found a random woman living inside of the Chatham property. Unfortunately, police informed her that there wasn’t much that could be done about the situation.
"We honestly thought he was joking because we knew the house was vacant. My husband just repaired the house completely with his own money," Cruz told ABC7. "So, we show up with the cops, and there's a young woman in there with all of her belongings."
ABC7 noted that the woman living in the home claimed to have found it in an ad and paid $8,000 up front to the "landlord." After moving in, the woman changed all of the locks.
When Cruz turned the situation over to police, the stranger was able to show a signed lease that was not provided by Cruz, making the whole situation a civil matter that required an eviction process.
"I definitely do feel violated," Cruz shared. "Like I said, we may not live here, but it's still our property. You know, I own this house, and it feels like if anyone can just break into your house and kind of take over. That's a scary feeling."
Chicago real estate attorney, Mo Dadkhah stated that this is not the first time an incident has happened like this in the city.