Couple Who Moved Out Of Their Home Discover Stranger Who Subsequently Moved In Without Permission; Cops Refuse To Bring Criminal Charges, Say Its A "Civil Matter"

In Nampa, Idaho, KIVI-TV Channel 6 reports:

• A shocked Nampa couple who discovered a complete stranger moved in to their vacant home has people across the Treasure Valley talking.
  
  The woman living inside the house is a single mom claiming she signed a lease to rent the house from a man the true owners have never heard of: Daniel Brink.
  
  “Well, it just doesn't make any sense,” Boise lawyer and real estate expert Wyatt Johnson said. “You've got a fictitious person here. If somebody doesn't own property, or have title to it or have some sort of a tendency to it, they can't rent it to someone else.”
  
  Yet, it's happening in neighborhoods across the country, and here in the Treasure Valley leaving property owners like the Prindle family confused on what their rights are as property owners.
  
  “We had no idea what our rights were to our property,” Renea Prindle said. “Our locks had been changed so we had no way of getting into our home. She's claiming that this third party is the one that changed the locks on the house and handed her the keys.”
  
  “These forms are really easy to get,” Johnson said. “You can just go online and print out one of these lease agreements.”
  
  When they discovered strangers staying at their home, the Prindles called law enforcement for assistance, but were shocked by the response.
  
  “The police basically said, 'this is a civil matter and you have to leave, you have to go home and you have to contact an attorney,’ and there was nothing we could do,” Prindle said.

For more, see Homeowners' rights in question after Nampa property dispute.