By Karin Johnson
Man accused of trying to gain ownership of abandoned homes arrested
Carr faces breaking and entering, theft charges
SPRINGDALE, Ohio —He's accused of breaking into abandoned homes, changing the locks and then claiming the houses are his.
CASE OF 'QUIET TITLE' HOUSE TAKEOVERS DRAWS QUESTIONS
There is new information Tuesday night about a WLWT investigation.
A family went out of town only to return home to find a man had moved into their home and changed the locks. And this wasn't the first time this has happened. WLWT News 5's Karin Johnson investigates if the move is legal and what the homeowners can do to get back into their home.
A man accused of breaking into homes, changing the locks and claiming they are his, objected in court on Tuesday.
The man who says he has the right to lay claim to abandoned homes spoke with Karin Johnson before his November arrest.
A WLWT investigation uncovered a dozen cases linked to the same guy, and Wednesday, Robert Carr was arrested.
Less than a week after WLWT introduced our investigation, both Springdale and Forest Park police have filed criminal charges against Carr for breaking and entering and theft.
“When you abandon something, you forfeit all your rights and title to it, and title is not a piece of paper, title is when you grab it and say 'Mine,'” Carr said.
The game of finders-keepers could be over for Carr.
He's now charged with three counts of breaking and entering and three counts of theft involving a few houses, two in Springdale and one in Forest Park.
One of the homes related to his arrest is the one we focused on in our investigation.
A family returned to the house that it was letting go into foreclosure to find locks had been changed, and not by the bank.
In fact, Carr even filed a "quiet title," claiming the property is now his.
“They would like for this just to be over,” the family’s attorney Alison Warner said.
Warner filed a motion to dismiss the case for failure to state a claim.
“The most disturbing part in this ordeal is this family has had to retain an attorney and had to have someone come in and take care of this, speak with them frequently, file these motions on their behalf to make sure there's not a default judgment,” Warner said.
While this one family defends itself, our investigation found Carr filed quiet titles on 10 other homes.
“He would have to have some ownership rights to the property in order to have standing with this case,” real estate attorney John Yonas said.
WLWT asked Yonas to take a look at the documents Carr filed in his quiet title action.
“In order for him to basically get squatters rights in Ohio, he would have to follow the adverse possession standard, which is 21 years,” Yonas said.
Those documents would show that for 21 years, he has exclusively and continuously occupied a home.
“I don't see the guy having any grounds to win,” Yonas said.
And if Carr is hoping for a default judgment where the other party doesn't fight him, Yonas said he would be shocked if a court would actually go forward with one based on these filings.
WLWT did reach out to Carr's court-appointed attorney but our call was not returned.
Carr is being held on more than $40,000 bond.
http://www.wlwt.com/news/local-news/hamilton-county/man-arrested-accused-of-trying-to-gain-ownership-of-abandoned-homes/-/13550662/23255240/-/v7whddz/-/index.html
Man accused of trying to gain ownership of abandoned homes arrested
Carr faces breaking and entering, theft charges
SPRINGDALE, Ohio —He's accused of breaking into abandoned homes, changing the locks and then claiming the houses are his.
CASE OF 'QUIET TITLE' HOUSE TAKEOVERS DRAWS QUESTIONS
There is new information Tuesday night about a WLWT investigation.
A family went out of town only to return home to find a man had moved into their home and changed the locks. And this wasn't the first time this has happened. WLWT News 5's Karin Johnson investigates if the move is legal and what the homeowners can do to get back into their home.
A man accused of breaking into homes, changing the locks and claiming they are his, objected in court on Tuesday.
The man who says he has the right to lay claim to abandoned homes spoke with Karin Johnson before his November arrest.
A WLWT investigation uncovered a dozen cases linked to the same guy, and Wednesday, Robert Carr was arrested.
Less than a week after WLWT introduced our investigation, both Springdale and Forest Park police have filed criminal charges against Carr for breaking and entering and theft.
“When you abandon something, you forfeit all your rights and title to it, and title is not a piece of paper, title is when you grab it and say 'Mine,'” Carr said.
The game of finders-keepers could be over for Carr.
He's now charged with three counts of breaking and entering and three counts of theft involving a few houses, two in Springdale and one in Forest Park.
One of the homes related to his arrest is the one we focused on in our investigation.
A family returned to the house that it was letting go into foreclosure to find locks had been changed, and not by the bank.
In fact, Carr even filed a "quiet title," claiming the property is now his.
“They would like for this just to be over,” the family’s attorney Alison Warner said.
Warner filed a motion to dismiss the case for failure to state a claim.
“The most disturbing part in this ordeal is this family has had to retain an attorney and had to have someone come in and take care of this, speak with them frequently, file these motions on their behalf to make sure there's not a default judgment,” Warner said.
While this one family defends itself, our investigation found Carr filed quiet titles on 10 other homes.
“He would have to have some ownership rights to the property in order to have standing with this case,” real estate attorney John Yonas said.
WLWT asked Yonas to take a look at the documents Carr filed in his quiet title action.
“In order for him to basically get squatters rights in Ohio, he would have to follow the adverse possession standard, which is 21 years,” Yonas said.
Those documents would show that for 21 years, he has exclusively and continuously occupied a home.
“I don't see the guy having any grounds to win,” Yonas said.
And if Carr is hoping for a default judgment where the other party doesn't fight him, Yonas said he would be shocked if a court would actually go forward with one based on these filings.
WLWT did reach out to Carr's court-appointed attorney but our call was not returned.
Carr is being held on more than $40,000 bond.
http://www.wlwt.com/news/local-news/hamilton-county/man-arrested-accused-of-trying-to-gain-ownership-of-abandoned-homes/-/13550662/23255240/-/v7whddz/-/index.html