Soldier Duncan Fowler says he is unable to return home due to squatters | Pixabay/Amber Clay
Soldier Duncan Fowler says he is unable to return home due to squatters | Pixabay/Amber Clay
After spending last year deployed in Poland, soldier Duncan Fowler returned to find his home in Decatur overtaken by squatters.
In a Feb. 25 report by FOX 5 Atlanta, Fowler told the new organization he has tried to ask the individuals to leave his home, but his requests have been refused.
"In the last two years, I’ve only been home for about eight weeks. And then the chance I finally get to go home, I don’t have an actual house to go to," Fowler told FOX 5 Atlanta.
Fowler said DeKalb County police have been called to the home four times, but he was told officers are not able to remove the squatters. Rather, they have been able to identify the names of some of the individuals living at the home, including one whom Fowler said has an extensive criminal record.
According to the report, Fowler‘s property manager first discovered the squatters, estimating they moved in some time late last year. Though he had rented his house out at one point in time, the individuals currently occupying the residence are not supposed to be there.
Among comments, Fowler said he has been told he’ll have to go through the legal process to remove the squatters. A local attorney told FOX 5 Georgia residents must go through an eviction proceeding to establish the squatters have no right to be in the home. As a result, Fowler said this means he will likely be without a home for months as backlogged court systems make it difficult to set a court date.
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