[imagesource: Esa Alexander]

Last year, Catherine Deare found out the hard way that no matter how thoroughly you vet your potential tenants, there’s little you can do remove them once they’ve taken over your property.

It all started when a “warm and friendly and nice” couple moved into her house in Lochner Road, Constantia.

Then the rent stopped coming in, and the “tenants from hell” refused to leave.

Deare found herself in the midst of confrontations involving the police, lawyers, security guards, and eventually the Cape Town High Court.

She finally sold the property, and the new owner has been taking a stab at removing the tenants, without much success.

According to TimesLIVE, the owner (who wishes to remain anonymous) demolished the perimeter wall, but that did nothing to change things.

In fact, the squatters have built a makeshift wall using the property owner’s carport:

Image: TimesLIVE

The house is falling into disrepair and the neighbours are upset, while the tenants appear to be avoiding eviction by exploiting loopholes in a law designed to prevent illegal evictions.

The owner has recently managed to obtain a court order to gain access to the property.

The City of Cape Town is now involved after a Constantia resident applied for a rates rebate because he was “living next door to a slum”.

“The (city’s) Problem Building Unit is in the process of preparing an inspection notice on the property,” said Richard Bosman, the city’s executive director for safety and security.

The squatters have been on the property for two years.

It seems unlikely that this will be resolved anytime soon.

[source:timeslive]