'Total stranger moved into our home and now he’s trying to sell it for £181,000'

A squatter who put a couple's home up for sale, changed the locks and even paid property tax is back in the house after being released from jail, and police aren't willing to help in Baton Rouge, Louisiana

A squatter who tried to sell a couple’s home for nearly a quarter of a million dollars four months ago has been caught breaking into the same house again.

Joseph Guerin from Lousiana was caught breaking into the ranch-style property in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, earlier this week after owners Richard Craven and his wife Kristen were alerted by neighbours. It is the second time Guerin has been found on the property, and the police aren’t willing to help. Richard and Kristen inherited the four-bedroom, 3,200-square-foot home back in 2022 following the death of Kristen’s parents. Intending to remodel and sell the home, they paid a visit in April this year to find Guerin had not only broken into the four-bedroom home but placed all the utilities under his name and even changed the locks.

Taking squatters’ rights to a whole new level, Guerin had also listed the house for sale online for £181,000 ($225,000). Upon first discovering the unwanted guests, instead of calling the police straight away, the Cravens kept watch of their home, taking note of different people entering and exiting. Richard told WBRZ he suspected the house was being used for more than just sleeping.

“Drug using, drug dealing, I don’t know if he was renting rooms out to females,” Richard Craven said. When Richard did eventually report the problem to the police he was told it was a civil matter as both the Cravens and the squatters were able to provide documents that ‘proved’ they were the rightful owners. Allegedly Guerin was able to show paperwork claiming he paid property taxes.

“The police won’t show me what paperwork he has,” Richard Craven said. “I’ve told them whatever he has, has got to be forged.” Eventually, Guerin was arrested for unauthorised entry and the Cravens discovered how the squatters had chosen to refurb the once beautiful family home. Guerin had torn up the carpet and replaced it with tile flooring, moved in with his own furniture, chosen new low-quality countertops and painted everything white, including a window to obstruct views into the home. “It was ransacked. Everything was tossed,” Richard described.

Imagine Richard’s disbelief when he was alerted by a text from a neighbour which read “You have company over here. That Joey guy, he’s back.” Four months later, on 5th September Joseph Guerin had returned just one day after being released from jail. The serial squatter even gave the Baton Rouge house as his address on police paperwork. Baton Rouge Police have again been reluctant to help. While Louisiana law does say squatting is illegal, it only protects a person who has possessed the property for 10 interrupted years in good faith and by just title, or for 30 years without title or good faith, meaning it is of little help to the Cravens. “I’m not going to let a criminal to go bust in the house and take control,” Craven said. “It’s just as simple as that. So it’s more than getting control. He’s going. He’s going to go.”