This is awkward.
A Detroit woman bought a historic home in Detroit’s Boston-Edison District for $23,000 May 2010. She stayed away from her house for a year and returned with her infant daughter last week to find a squatter, Tracy Elaine Blair, living there. Not just living there, but Heidi says Tracy changed the locks, reworked the plumbing, bought new appliances, put pictures of herself everywhere, and put a lien on the house.
There will be a lengthy legal process to remove Tracy from the home even though she has no rights to it, and it is illegal for a homeowner to remove a squatter through force. Because Heidi doesn’t have anywhere else for herself and her daughter to go, and she spent all of her money on the house, she’s forced to live with Tracy, who is a missionary, and says she’s a write-in candidate for president.
When asked if she was afraid of the strange situation, Heidi acknowledged some anxieties about the situation.
“I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know what the capabilities are. We’re afraid of her mindset of entitlement.”
Heidi says Tracy thinks she’s part of a program to go in houses in Detroit and fix them up.
When a reporter in the video mentioned to Heidi that some people would find living with a squatter weird, Heidi replied “I guess that’s what happens in Detroit.”
The Detroit Fox affiliate who reported the story also spoke to Tracy, who maintains that she has a lease, and every right to live in the house.
“I have a construction lien for the repairs that I put into the house. Someone had (broken) into the house on July the Fourth and they stripped the radiators and I made a report,” she added.
“In February 2011, we had to vacate because the boiler was damaged,” she continued. “I took all my books and my writings, but my (furniture was) still left in (there).”
“I’m an advocate for affordable housing. That’s a part of my campaign. I’ve believed that since the first time I met her when I was running for state Senate (in) 2010 and she was also running for a political office, that was a part of my belief. I signed an oath pledging that I would fight for affordable homes.”
The news station was also told (they didn’t specify by who, but it appears to be Tracy) that “Peterson leased the house to tenants in 2010, including this alleged squatter, but had to evict everyone when it was found not fit to live in. We’re also told the alleged squatter filed papers with the city claiming the property was abandoned.”
This story is really murky. Who’s telling the truth here?
If Heidi’s story is correct, can you imagine having to share your home where you live with your young child with a stranger who claims entitlement? That sounds like an absolutley nightmaire
