In between reporting on the Memphis Grizzlies coaching change and posting a video interview with Utah Jazz rookie Isaiah Collier, NBA insider Chris Haynes shared a long, insane story online of his run-in with squatters at his Atlanta home.
In a 15-minute video, the former ESPN and TNT Sports reporter detailed how he took matters into his own hands when he found out that squatters had been living in the home he bought for his daughters to live in while attending Clark Atlanta University.
The story began last October, when a nearby local realtor noticed odd behavior from strangers who appeared to be living in the Haynes’ residence. Not only did they appear to be living in the home, but they were also using Haynes’ car. The realtor called Haynes to notify him shortly before his daughter was set to return to school after a study abroad trip.
“Immediately, I’m getting heated. And I’m getting concerned. Because I just dropped my daughter off at the airport, and she’s headed to Atlanta,” Haynes explained. “I said, ‘I’m going because I’m getting these people out my house.'”
So Haynes flew with his daughter, called the police, and got ready to confront the squatters.
“I was not familiar with the term ‘squatting.’ I didn’t know what that was,” Haynes added. “I was like, ‘listen officers, I’m going to my house and I’m getting them out. Y’all can go over there and meet me like I’m requesting of you, but it’s going down tonight. They’re getting out of my house.'”
When Haynes arrived at the Atlanta home with the cops and knocked on the door, three women came out, and he noticed two men scurrying out the back door. One of the women began arguing with the police officer about the situation, claiming they were, in fact, renting the property and had borrowed the vehicle in the driveway from a friend.
When pressed, the woman said they paid $100 monthly to rent the property. At that point, Haynes had had enough, flashing the spare key to the car in the driveway before stepping away to address the police.
“I politely but firmly told the officer, ‘Officer, with all due respect, they’re getting out of my house now. By any means necessary, they’re getting out of my house now,'” Haynes told the police. “‘I don’t know who is in here, but I’ve got people on the way. I am prepared to defend my household, so officers, if you don’t want to be here while this is going down, that is fine. But if you are going to be here, I’m letting you know what’s going down.'”
Haynes gave the people in his home an hour to exit, telling them that if they were not out by then, “there’s going to be problems.”
By the time he returned, Haynes said the people were just about done taking their belongings out. Once they were gone, Haynes entered his home to find a complete mess.
“I go in there, my house is tore up,” Haynes said. “Furniture gone. Dog poop all over the place. TVs pulled out the wall. Mattresses not on the beds. There are pitbulls in a few rooms. One pitbull was trying to charge me, in my own damn house.”
After fighting off the dog and taking stock of the issues, Haynes planned to fix the home so his daughters could come back in. But not before he learned a very valuable and unfortunate lesson about the legal loophole that is squatting.