Atlanta landlord says his former tenant is squatting

SOUTH FULTON, Ga. — Linda Griffen has been gardening for more than 75 years. It’s a place she finds calm amidst the chaos.

Unfortunately, she’s been dealing with a lot of chaos lately.

Just a few feet from her yard is Linda’s house in southwest Atlanta. On one side, she lives, and on the other, her former tenant.

Griffen said the tenant, whose lease recently expired, has not paid her rent since March and is now squatting inside her home.

“Living on the same property as the tenant even makes it a little more cautious because you just don’t know from day to day what’s going to happen,” Griffen said. “It’s a scary situation.”

Griffen filed an eviction complaint in March in Fulton County Magistrate Court. The landlord said the woman living in his house challenged the eviction, which can buy tenants months to continue living.

According to a spokesperson for the Fulton County Marshal’s Office, which handles judicial evictions, they received the court order on May 29 but can only complete it in the order in which it was received.

“I spoke to a marshal this morning, and they told me they wouldn’t be able to reach me until September or October. I told them my story. I asked please…and he said they couldn’t do anything because they were behind schedule,” Griffen.

Last March, officials in Gwinnett, Cobb and Fulton counties said the wait for an eviction to be completed ranged from four to six months due to the number of evictions piling up as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. 19 and personnel problems.

11Alive attempted to contact the tenant living inside the home, but no one was there at the time.

As Griffen continues to fight to reclaim her home, she says she looks to her garden to find peace among her plants.

“Mother Nature…she’s a hell of a girl. She does a lot of things,” she said.