SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – A Seminole County family said they are left without many options after offering to help a man they thought was down on his luck who turned out to be a convicted felon with a history of squatting.
They say they have spent thousands of dollars in legal fees trying to evict the man and his girlfriend from their property.
"We feel taken advantage of," said Azhar Musleem, the son of the owner of the mobile home where the unwanted resident now lives.
Musleem said he and his family are no strangers to property laws. They run a real estate firm and have rental properties around Seminole County.
Family members said late last year they were trying to help out a worker they had hired off Craigslist when they offered up the mobile home but never dreamed it would turn into a costly nightmare.
"We never foresaw this coming, thinking we were just helping a guy out who's got a family and kids," said Musleem. "He said he had just been evicted from his previous home."
Little did the Musleems know that the worker, Stephen Michael Meadows, was a convicted felon who has preyed on another family's sympathy before. The home Meadows said he was kicked out of was actually a shed located in Carol Hopkins' backyard in Volusia County.
News 6 exposed the problem in October.
According to court records, Meadows was convicted in 2002 of grand theft and burglary of an unoccupied dwelling with intent to use. He was sentenced to three years in prison and was released in February 2005. Meadows also has several drug-and-traffic related charges on his record, and was arrested on outstanding warrants for charges of uttering forged bills in 2017 and 2018.
Musleem said the family wished they had done more research on Meadows before agreeing to help him out.
News 6 went out to the property with Musleem to see what Meadows had to say.
"He said he would just keep his stuff in there," said Musleem. "(The mobile home) hasn't been in use for a long time."
Inside were children's toys, a lawn chair and wiring to hook-up power.
Inside was Meadows, who listed off one excuse after another as to why he was staying in the home.
"It was agreed upon with them that we may stay here," Meadows said. "There is an agreement between us. I was to fix up the home while I was here."
However the only agreement in writing is a signed Post- it note that shows Meadows signed an agreement to pay $559 on Nov. 23, 2018 and pay $300 on Nov. 30, 2018. Meadows admits he never paid that money.
"No ma'am, I did not pay that money," he said.
Meadows said he's not leaving until the property owners pay him, because he said he spent about $800 on materials alone fixing up the home.
In December, the Musleems posted a a three-day notice instructing Meadows to pay rent or get out but Meadows ignored it.
"I stay here until the courts tell me that I am not legally allowed," said Meadows.
Musleem and his family just want what is happening to them to serve as a warning to others.
In both the Hopkins' and Musleems' cases, the families involved offered to help to someone they thought was in need.
However in the Musleems' case, because there was an agreement -- albeit on a Post-it note-- and permission, even if it is verbal, it is not considered trespassing.
Under the legal definition trespassing is when a person enters onto the land of another without permission or the legal right to be there. Which is why police can't arrest the unwanted residents, even though they refuse to leave or pay rent.
News 6 discovered in matters like this, the courts must decide if the tenant should be served with an eviction, unlawful detainer or ejectment process.
"As a rule in residential real estate, you don't give possession until they pay," said News 6 Legal Expert Steven Kremer, who has handled eviction and real estate matters in his practice. "As soon as they got possession, they had a right to the property."
And Kremer says that Post-it note agreement is enough to show Meadows now falls under the category of tenant and not a squatter. The family could file a notice of nonrenewal, which they did, in January.
Click here, for more information about what rights Floridians have when it comes to removing unwanted house guests.