A Colorado family is finally back in its own home after it was illegally sold to total strangers, CBS Denver reports.
“The Donovans moved out of state last year for work and found strangers living in their home when they returned. It was one of many stolen homes linked to the same ring,” the report adds. “When the Donovans returned they were forced to live in the basement of a relative’s home in Greeley.”
And it wasn’t just a few days. The Donovans have been trying to get their house back since the spring.
“It’s wonderful, great, couldn’t ask for anything more,” Troy Donovan told CBS Denver.
Watch the CBS Denver update [featuring what could totally pass for Pete Postlethwaite's long-lost brother]:
Police have charged Alfonso Carrillo with racketeering, theft, and a few other crimes in connection with the Donovan case. As for the people who say they thought they bought the house “legally” from Carrillo, they are being charged with trespassing. You see, after the Donovans came home, the new residents refused to give back the house.
“I told her, ‘Listen, what you’re doing is wrong, it’s illegal, I would really like you to move out of the home, otherwise we will take legal action against you,’” Dayna Donovan told CBS4′s Rick Sallinger in July.
The Donovans followed through and won an eviction order about a month ago.
“A woman who was living in the Donovans’ home said they were distressed. They fought the eviction even to the point of filing for bankruptcy protection, which stalled their removal,” CBS4 reports. “Weeks after the grand jury indictment was returned, those inside the Littleton home finally moved out.”
Luckily, the house was still in decent order.
“They actually did think that they bought the home, so they took really good care of it,” Troy Donovan said.
“Yeah it’s over, it’s over, I can sleep at night,” Troy Donovan said.
Another man, Rudy Breda, is still wanted in connection to similar crimes connected to the Donovan’s case.
Left to right: Alfonso Carrillo and Rudy Breda (credit: Denver District Attorney’s Office)
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Comments (57)
IndyArmyVet
Aug. 24, 2012 at 12:43pm911, yes… there WERE intruders in my house when I arrived home. Yes, I am armed and they ran out the back door screaming when they saw my AR-15. Funny thing, they furnished my place and even hung pictures…
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txannie
Aug. 24, 2012 at 10:27amIf you live in a state that still has “squatters rights” laws, you need to be very carefull of how long you leave your property vacant. Not all states still have these laws, but the laws were designed to help settle the country by allowing people to stake an area out and ‘squat’ for a certain length of time to be awarded the property rights as owner. As a farmer/rancher we have to make regular sweeps of our property to make sure some one hasn’t erected a tent or even a cardboard box and living on an area of our property to claim their squatter’s rights. Know your laws in your specific state so this doesn’t happen to you. The theives know the laws and will use old laws like this to steal your property.
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Anadara
Aug. 24, 2012 at 3:56pmInformative post.
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WeDontNeedNoSteenkinBadges12
Aug. 25, 2012 at 3:13am“The theives know the laws and will use old laws like this to steal your property.”
Citizens then should remove those laws. Maybe right down to a one page statement … of the 10 Commandments.
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dacorvi
Aug. 24, 2012 at 10:25amWhat is happening here is just what has been going on in the rest of the world for a long time. The reason it has been spiraling upward in the last 4 years is because our government no longer protects us from these people coming into our country. It used to be that immigration controlled who came to the US, and actually arrested those they found here illegally. Not since Obama. He could care less what happens to our country as long as he gets his revenge on us white colonialists. All you have to do is read his book to find that out.
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qdllc
Aug. 24, 2012 at 9:51amA 411 for the silly wabbits…
1. If you ABANDON your property for a year (or any length of time), don’t be surprised to get squatters or worse. ALWAYS have someone you trust keep an eye on the house while you are gone.
2. If you have a dispute over property, COPS WON’T GET INVOLVED. They will tell you to go to court, and the courts tend to put the burden of proof on the person who brings the case. So, you want to sue to get someone out of YOUR house, YOU have to prove YOU own it. This is more so if they claim they got the house in a “legal” transaction.
In simpler terms, CYA when it comes to unattended property.
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kcares
Aug. 24, 2012 at 9:07amI don’t evn feel like I live in the US anymore. I think it is too late to get our country back. What is an honest person suspost to do, when there are so many dishonest ones? I sure hope they sue!
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Macman1138
Aug. 24, 2012 at 12:01pmAmen. I saw all this coming about 40 years ago and when I talked about what was happening, a few agreed but most laughed in my face.
They’re not laughing now.
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bpodlesnik
Aug. 24, 2012 at 7:36amI like how the guy in the yellow shirt said “I don’t speak English”, even though he spoke that phrase in English fairly well.
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muffythetuffy
Aug. 24, 2012 at 8:41amI am a white European American. When this happens how can the owner prove they didn’t ask someone to sell their house while away? In many places when someone goes on vacation, a family moves into their home and when they return they cannot get into their own house. The new family shows a lease or bill of sale and the local police or judge will not do anything. It the new kind of Government housing scam.
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Meyvn
Aug. 24, 2012 at 9:29amPretty soon we will accruately be able to say we don’t live in the US.
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Melika
Aug. 24, 2012 at 9:54amWell, he really may not be able to speak English. I worked around a lot of these people and a few of them perfected the “I don’t speak English” phrase very well. It’s a bit confusing at first, because your brain automatically thinks they MUST speak English, at least a little, when all they really know is that one phrase.
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jacobstroubles
Aug. 24, 2012 at 7:24amAgain, there’s way more information to this story than being provided here.
typical crappy journalism.
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mattfrompa
Aug. 24, 2012 at 8:36amUmm, usally when people make coments like that they provide the proff with the statement they make. wheres yours?
good thing everyone on here knows what you are.
prayers for you there will be
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4xeverything
Aug. 24, 2012 at 9:20amRight on, Yoda.-@MATTFROMPA
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pdw
Aug. 24, 2012 at 9:52amWe can all find fault with everything in this world. Maybe you need to find a new profession. If I want to find more on any story I should be able to do so but at the same time I do not condemn. That’s what we have a brain for if we want to find more we just look.
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Rick54
Aug. 24, 2012 at 7:03amWhat?? no Title search.
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MARCH4HIM
Aug. 24, 2012 at 7:01amHmmm ..The con men had to pretty good at this, to convince everyone in the
judicial system, to keep out the legal owners of this property.
Unless the system is broke and now protects the guilty …Instead of the victims.
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sndrman
Aug. 24, 2012 at 9:40amthe system IS set for the guilty/criminals,honest hard working people are the **** of the joke……looks like 2 more people obama will have to pardon on his way out….can you imagine all the people/radicals to be pardoned………..
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JohnHW
Aug. 24, 2012 at 6:48amIt is easy to forge IDs. A title company at the signing – unless they have changed in the last 10 years – never once looked at the buyer’s driver’s license. Unless they did it sometime before the meeting, never did more than glance at the seller’s ID, although the notary signed attesting the signatures. Of course, notary’s have no means of actually checking out to make sure the driver’s licenses or IDs are valid.
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loriann12
Aug. 24, 2012 at 7:15amThe problem is that they guy gobbled up properties that were vacant and “sold” them to unsuspecting people. I think the title company had to be in on it and should be investigated.
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Magyar
Aug. 24, 2012 at 6:47amA simple title search would have revealed the true owners… don’t know any state that DOSEN’T require it!
Are you telling me that the homeowners left the state and made NO arrangements to have their house perriodically checked and none of the neighbors noticed?
Come on—Something’s seriously wrong here….
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wboehmer
Aug. 24, 2012 at 6:35amAll I want to know is how this kind of thing can take months to correct?
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Gonzo
Aug. 24, 2012 at 2:18pmIt doesn’t surprise me. I have a rental property and it takes a long while to evict a renter when they haven’t paid you for months. Then of course they trash the place because you have the nerve to evict them for not paying rent in months. This was far more complicated.
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AllLost
Aug. 24, 2012 at 6:22amIt is not Obama’s America…it is Americans America….this is what we want. share the wealth….we all have rights to homes, money, prosperity with rights given to us by the Government.
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Realman30
Aug. 24, 2012 at 6:11am“Title!”
“We don’t need no stinking title!”
. . . Welcome to Obama’s America!
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deadly_ernest
Aug. 24, 2012 at 5:09amThe area must have a great neighbourhood watch. I actually cannot imagine the neighbours not saying something. Surely the owners would have discussed their temporary move with someone in the street?
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piper60
Aug. 24, 2012 at 5:46amThey had to have. How else would the scam artists have known the house was empty.
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spikebu
Aug. 24, 2012 at 4:38amPerhaps it’s because I’m from Arizona (native). My first thought is “Illegal alien”. Definitely seller, probably buyer. Obama is making it easier for them to do things like this, and harder for us to correct it. Next time, it’ll take a year (and every penny you have) to get them out.
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lassiegirldawn
Aug. 24, 2012 at 2:54amAre you kidding, it was on Obummers list of free housing. Illegal’s thought they hit the jackpot.
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spikebu
Aug. 24, 2012 at 4:15amThese guys are too old to hit the jackpot.
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PoliticallyRightUs.Com
Aug. 24, 2012 at 2:07amEver hear of title insurance?
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RepubliCorp
Aug. 24, 2012 at 2:48amnot when you are playing dumb
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Daveed
Aug. 24, 2012 at 1:07amWow, I am glad the true owners got justice. The other people if they thought they purchased the home will have to sue the crooks to get their money back.
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lukerw
Aug. 24, 2012 at 1:45amOften… there is no real Justice in these cases!
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KickinBack
Aug. 24, 2012 at 1:46amProbably won’t do them much good. Once you’re duped by the crooks, you’re pretty much screwed. That’s what happens in nearly every case of fraud.
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Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Aug. 24, 2012 at 2:16amGlad they got the house back.
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LameLiberals
Aug. 24, 2012 at 12:46amWhat about a home TITLE SEARCH???? Only a complete and utter IDIOT would buy a home without a title search which would have PROVEN the home belonged to another. I bet these squatters were illegal aliens ignorant of our laws and supporting Obama.
Who buys a FULLY FURNISHED HOME that is neat and clean and has everything in place right down to a dresser in every bedroom filled with underwear and socks and pots and pans in the kitchen and photographs on the wall and in albums?
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Diane TX
Aug. 24, 2012 at 1:30amYou’re right LL. A title search wasn’t done because the “buyers” knew it wasn’t free and clear, and because they knew it was a stolen house, and paid way below market value for it. Good luck to them if they try to get their money back from the crook they jumped into bed with.
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Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Aug. 24, 2012 at 1:40amThey could have forged a title search, hey when I bought a house, you go through a ton of paper work, a clever conman can forge a bunch of it.
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RepubliCorp
Aug. 24, 2012 at 2:58amDARMOK AND JALAD AT TANAGRA seeing the buyer pays for the title search through a title company, I don’t see how would that happen? “no oblay english” doesn’t pass the smell test and the only victim is the owner.
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objectivetruth
Aug. 24, 2012 at 10:36amThe con could have that the owners of the reality company owned it.All you need do is come up with a dummy title.If they had of used a reality company where this was legitimately done before .they wouldn’t think anything of it.Rent to own also comes to mind.Because in these situations it doesn’t come to light until you have been there long enough for the rent to turn into permanent payments.Plus many don’t properly vet who the owner seller is nor the buyer.
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Delores at CH WV
Aug. 24, 2012 at 12:27amIt looks like anyone but the real homeowners gets justice if they have spend their money and time to go through the court systems to prove ownership. Everyday, I am looking for the United Nations to take all of our land because someone in the government signs over our land rights because the UN demands them to surrender it. Citizens have no idea what these “Power” players in this government are secretly doing with these secret Presidential powers being abused in this administration.
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Sirfoldallot
Aug. 24, 2012 at 12:35amSo having a title with ur name on it means u still have to go through all this ?
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RJJinGadsden
Aug. 24, 2012 at 1:07amSIRFOLDALLOT, Our so called justice protects the criminal and does not give a damn about the victim.
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MATTtheCONTRACTOR
Aug. 24, 2012 at 12:23amcant believe anybody would buy a house from either of those two schlembecks…just look at them!
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txbigfoot
Aug. 24, 2012 at 12:16amThe travelers in America.
Seriously, got Glock?
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avgconservative
Aug. 24, 2012 at 12:12amMost of it is on Craig’s List… the #1 fraud website in America.
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Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Aug. 24, 2012 at 12:19amWait a minute, I bought a bridge in New York off Craigs list, are you saying I don’t really own it, I was going to make a mint off of the tolls.
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barber2
Aug. 24, 2012 at 12:07amPlease more info on Alfonso Carrillo’s/ Rudy Breda’s backgrounds. How did they get involved in a real estate swindle ?
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Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Aug. 24, 2012 at 12:12amIt dates back to their first realestate deal back in Arkansas, some property called Whitewater.
These people are so lucky the tenants didn’t trash the place, my uncle and my sister have had renters completly trash some of their properties, and this was just because they didn’t pay rent for 4 months.
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RJJinGadsden
Aug. 24, 2012 at 1:11amDARMOK AND JALAD AT TANAGRA, LOL, and assisted by the Rose Law Firm. Hmmm, was Vince Foster around then too?
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