A COUPLE has been left stunned after being forced to pay a squatter $2,500 to leave their own home.

The woman, who had no rental contract or permission to stay, used a legal loophole to claim tenant rights.

Jennifer and John Chamberlain were leasing their three-bedroom home in southeast Salem, Oregon, located 47 miles from Portland when the ordeal began.

What they thought would be a temporary arrangement turned into a nine-month battle that cost them thousands of dollars.

The Chamberlains’ adopted son, who lived in the garage apartment of the home, allowed a homeless woman to stay in their backyard shed in April 2024, according to the Salem Statesman Journal.

Initially, the Chamberlains were fine with it, believing it was a short-term situation.

But as months passed, the woman refused to leave, even after multiple attempts to get her to vacate.

The couple tried verbal requests, written notices, and even got police involved.

However, the woman remained on their property.

It was then that the family discovered they were trapped in a legal bind.

Oregon’s laws had inadvertently granted her tenant rights, even though she had no lease and hadn’t paid a penny in rent.

“People have to know that this can happen. It can happen so easily,” Jennifer Chamberlain told the Salem Statesman Journal.

The squatter had a lengthy criminal record, with arrests for identity theft, theft, and drug possession spanning decades.

She had also been evicted multiple times before, including just weeks ahead of moving into the shed.

The Chamberlains took some responsibility for the situation, acknowledging their son had allowed the woman to use the house’s bathroom and kitchen.

But they never expected things to escalate.

Why squatting is such a complicated problem

Squatters can be a real headache for property owners as they can move in at any time – so vacant homes need constant monitoring – and once they’re in they can be hard to move.

While tenants are invited onto a property with consent, if they stop paying, they don’t in effect become squatters, because there are legal protections and processes landlords need to undertake to evict them.

While squatters are uninvited guests, they are afforded similar protections and property owners have to undertake a legal process to get them out.

While squatters are in effect trespassing, which is illegal, they are innocent until proven guilty, so the process of eviction can become time consuming if they refuse to come to the door and engage. The laws for removing someone are different for both, adding further complication.

Property owners who attempt to remove squatters by force may expose themselves to a potential lawsuit for harassment or assault, so the advice is generally to play it by the book.

Squatters also have rights, known as adverse possession, under the law which allows an individual to occupy a property and remain there without the owner’s permission.

And If they stay long enough they can even, eventually, claim ownership.

By October, the shed had been deemed uninhabitable by a county code inspector.

The couple gave the woman a 72-hour notice to vacate, but she ignored it.

Days later, the woman moved into the house, taking up residence in the master bedroom.

Despite their efforts to evict her, the police could not intervene because she claimed she had a right to be there.

Squatting laws in Oregon require that a squatter be removed only through a court ruling.

The Chamberlains filed for eviction in November, but the process was slow.

A court hearing in December ended in mediation, which the squatter refused to accept.

The woman even argued in court that she was not unlawful because she had been given permission by a “new property manager.”

The Chamberlains, frustrated and defeated, realized that under Oregon law, the squatter was considered a tenant, even though she had no contract and never paid rent.

Chamberlains believed they had a strong case, but the law stated otherwise.

Desperate, they contacted a lawyer specializing in landlord-tenant disputes.

The attorney advised them that their case was weak due to outdated paperwork and recommended they pay the squatter to leave.

And that’s exactly what they did, handing over $2,500 to get her out.

OREGON SQUATTER LAW

John Bowles, the Chamberlains’ lawyer, explained that a state statute called the Oregon Residential Landlord-Tenant Act lacks sufficient coverage, leaving gaps that allow individuals to exploit loopholes and squat without consequences.

The Chamberlains believed they followed all the proper steps to remove the squatters, but their attorney pointed out key mistakes, reported the Salem Statesman Journal.

He explained that by allowing the woman to move into the shed, their son unintentionally created a tenancy, acting beyond his authority as an agent for the homeowners.

Additionally, the Chamberlains failed to use the correct forms and didn’t follow the proper procedures for serving notices.

According to their lawyer, one of the most common errors landlords make is issuing faulty termination notices, which can complicate the eviction process.

Squatting cases like the Chamberlains’ are becoming more common across the country.

In Oregon and many other states, laws often prioritize squatters’ rights, forcing property owners and landlords into prolonged and expensive legal battles to evict them.

In response, some states are beginning to take action to close these legal loopholes.