CHICAGO (WLS) — An Army veteran trying to sell his home says he’s struggling to get squatters to move out.

The man says squatters have been in his South Side house for more than a month. He called the ABC7 I-Team to get on the case.

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker recently signed a bill to crack down on squatting, but that law doesn’t go into effect until January 1.

The veteran says he can’t wait until January. He needs the strangers out of his home now.

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It is yet another case of alleged squatting in Illinois.

“I just feel totally violated,” Army veteran Bradford Robinson said. “I really have no words for it. I’m an emotional wreck.”

This time, an Army veteran says his South Side home is the latest target.

Robinson says his realtor came by his property last month to show a prospective buyer the house, but when they arrived, the lockbox had been broken and the locks were changed.

He says a woman named Brandy Bennett and several others had moved in.

“Why are you even in here, in the house? She said, ‘O, I live here,'” Robinson said. “‘No you can’t live here. We just had a showing last night, at 8 o’clock in the evening.'”

Robinson said they called the police.

“The young lady in the house showed them a bogus lease,” Robinson said. “With that being said, with the lease, the police said there’s nothing that they could do… the police actually asked me to have you come out to do a report because you seem to have a little bit more pull in getting things done.”

The ABC7 I-Team has been covering the squatting problem in Illinois for several months now. Homeowners have been desperate to get alleged squatters out of their homes.

“I was just shocked,” Robinson said. “I was shocked that they would refer me to you, which is fine, and I’m glad you’re here, but to find out that the police are pretty much telling me there’s nothing that I can do.”

Illinois’ current law prohibits police from removing squatters from someone’s property. Once a squatter shows the authorities a lease, regardless of legitimacy, police have to refer the real owner to the eviction courts.

“I’ve had three offers on the table,” Robinson said. “Now, I have squatters… in my house that I can’t get out, nor can I sell the house.”

Pritzker signed a bill into law last month that would give police the authority to remove squatters and treat them as trespassers. That law doesn’t go into effect until January 1, 2026.

“I appreciate the governor signing the squatters’ bill, but with it going into effect in January, there’s an additional five, six months that I have to wait,” Robinson said.

ABC7 knocked on the door of Robinson’s South Side home, but no one would come out to speak.

State Representative La Shawn Ford, who co-sponsored the squatter bill, met with the veteran to see what he could do to help.

“I’ve been working with Speaker Welch, and we’re gonna do everything we can,” Rep. Ford said. “I asked if we can file a bill to make it effective in October.”

Robinson has a message for everyone in Springfield.

“Speed up the process to getting the squatters out because myself and other homeowners, we don’t have six months to wait,” Robinson said.

The Chicago Police Department told the I-Team that landlord and tenant disputes are civil matters, but Robinson reiterated these are not tenants. He says they’re squatters, and need to be treated as such.