Mr. Untouchable is still sitting delightfully on his throne waiting for his eviction order. The story continues...
For those of you who don’t know. I wrote an article a few weeks back about our plight with a bad tenant whom refuses to move. He is now closing in on his fifth month of professional squatting. His free vacation has come at a tremendous financial cost to our family and has caused a great deal of pain for our new prospective tenant (a close family friend battling stage 3 cancer).
Mr. Untouchable sought to make his stay more comfortable by attaining a court order that allowed him various added luxuries to “his property”. He demanded full access to his property with additional remotes for the gate. He also requested that the security gate subdividing our property be opened so that he may have less impeding access. This imposed a huge security risk for our family friend whom stays in a far less secure building. In addition to these “requests”, his court order granted him “access” to a garage on our property. The garage contains highly valuable property belonging to our new tenant but Mr. Untouchable insists that a few moldy planks and a dead pigeon be moved into storage. He also demanded uninterrupted electricity and water flow to “his property” (after all, it is the Land Lord’s responsibility to ensure that his rights are upheld, until a formal eviction order is attained). His final request was for “his” curtains to be returned immediately (a heavily damaged set that we are trying to restore for him before he calls the police).
After attaining the court order, Mr. Untouchable sat on his throne, delighted with what he had achieved. He felt pleased that the law was on his side and nobody would make his stay less comfortable than it should be. He resumed his usual routine of doing nothing during the day, occasionally popping out to get more Liquor and on Wednesdays he would have a throbber with his “Chess Mates.”
During this time, our family and friend felt a complete sense of despair. How could somebody whom fails to pay any rent, before or after the lease period, have more rights than us? How is it that he can attain a magistrate’s court order so quickly and not have any employment? How can he issue a fictitious assault charge against the Land-Lord and have police make arrests without asking questions?
We were blocked at every avenue and the realization that we were dealing with a professional con-artist was chilling. It dawned on us that he had been here before and knew the legal avenues to extend his stay. He understood that his name was black-listed and he had no means of paying rent but that was okay; for his sole task was to put pen to paper. Once he had conned his way into signing a lease, his vacation began.
We got together as a family and made the collective decision to bring this man to justice. We understand that the legal road will be long and costly but it is necessary. We understand that we will never regain the dues owed to us by Mr. Untouchable but it is beyond that now.
The victories are beginning to mount in our favour.
On the last occasion that he called the police we dutifully explained the situation to a new attentive constable. The constable promptly turned to the man and said: “If you call us again Mr. Untouchable we will arrest you.” He looked like a whipped dog as he dragged his feet back to his palace.
In addition to this victory, we have had the pleasure of witnessing his court order being discharged. Our lawyer picked him apart like a hen at a slice of bread. His only defense was to stand sheepishly before the Magistrate and say “I have had no time to prepare.”
His fictitious assault charge is documented on camera. The footage shows one of his own family members attacking the Land-Lord’s wife and holding the land-lords family hostage, whilst Mr. Untouchable fetched his buddy at SAPS. His statement is completely fictitious, where-as the land-lord’s statement lines up with the video footage. The word perjury comes to mind and we will stop at no end until justice is served.
His eviction hearing will be held at the high-court, a place where legal representation is costly. However, I believe he may run before then, pack up his few hidden assets and head for greener pastures. He has lit a fire in our hearts and it burns for justice. We cannot allow people like this to take advantage of those whom possibly may be more dependent on rental income (for example a retiree). Mr. Untouchable may find himself on a far less comfortable vacation one-day.
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