Jordy Smith was 76 years old when she says the plumber she and her partner hired to fix some pipes in their City Heights home never left — and instead began renting out rooms to strangers while the couple was locked out of their own house. Before long, Smith says, around 15 people were living there.
Smith and her partner had temporarily relocated while the plumber worked on their pipes, according to 10News. Instead, the plumber changed the home's utilities into his own name and began treating the property as his to lease out. “Before we knew it, there was like 15 people,” Smith said, describing how the plumber's presence made new arrivals assume the home belonged to him.
When Smith and her partner tried to confront the people living there, the station reports the occupants refused to talk to them. Smith said she feared she would never get back into her own home. She eventually went to the police, then to the courts, searching for a way to reclaim the property that her partner had received from his mother through a trust decades earlier.
A Missing Trust Document Stalled Everything
The legal fight stalled almost immediately because Smith's partner could not locate paperwork proving he owned the home. Kimrey Kotchick, co-founder of the Squatter Squad, said he knew he was the successor trustee but could not find the trust documents himself — so Kotchick tracked down the missing ownership paperwork through the county recorder's office.
Even after that breakthrough, the station reports it still took another five months before the owner could legally evict the occupants. During that stretch, San Diego police were called to the home more than 30 times between January 1, 2024, and August 17, 2026, according to dispatch logs obtained by the station. Residents nearby reported suspected drug deals, trespassing, and smoke coming from the property.
Some of the people living in the house told the station they had paid rent to someone other than the registered owner, per the same account — a detail that, according to Kotchick, often pushes these cases into a legal gray zone. Squatter disputes are frequently treated as civil matters, and law enforcement often leaves them for the courts to resolve once someone claims to be a renter.
Deputies Finally Clear the Property
Smith and her partner brought in the Squatter Squad roughly two years after the ordeal began and ultimately listed the house for sale. Nicholas George, an unlawful detainer assistant and process server who works with the group, said the property had major code violations by the time deputies arrived. He also said some occupants tried to evade the eviction entirely. “Some were hiding in RVs, some were hiding in vans,” George said.
Armed deputies told the occupants it was time to leave, and the station reports some tried to return to the property just minutes after deputies departed. George said scenes like this one are common in Riverside and Los Angeles counties. After the eviction, Smith found cherished antiques missing and the home damaged; the house sold after the eviction.
Not an Isolated Case in San Diego
Smith's ordeal echoes a separate case in Encanto, where neighbors say squatters occupied two vacant homes owned by developer Infill Innovation for nearly eight months. According to Times of San Diego, resident Krista Fishman said she watched a group move into two adjacent homes in December 2025, and police dispatch logged 37 calls for service connected to those properties since January, including reports of trespass, robbery, burglary, assault, and narcotics. Both Encanto homes were eventually boarded up after the owner intervened.
In Los Angeles, the same pressures have given rise to groups like the Squatter Squad, which Kotchick co-founded. FOX 11 Los Angeles reported that Kotchick and colleague Thomas Lando were once tasked with evicting several people from an apartment they had broken into on Menlo Avenue. The group recommends that property owners install security cameras, post no-trespassing signs, build relationships with neighbors, and file a Trespassers Arrest Authorization Form with their local police department before trouble starts.
Smith's Advice to Other Homeowners
Smith's advice to other homeowners is simple: think twice before leaving a contractor alone inside your home. Smith, who holds an MBA, says the stress of the two-year fight took a serious toll on her and her partner, and she is now warning other homeowners about what happened to her.
She is urging property owners to keep their ownership documents in order so a missing trust record can't stall an eviction for months, and she's calling for tougher penalties for trespassers who take over occupied homes. Smith said she hopes that by sharing her story, other homeowners will think twice before leaving a contractor unsupervised in their house.
