A French homeowner who seized the opportunity to take back her property from squatters who hadn’t paid rent in several months risks going to prison for seven years and a €100,000 ($116,000).

Getting your property back from squatters isn’t the easiest thing in the world, as Maria, the owner of a house in Carcassonne, France, recently realized. She has been involved in a lengthy and exhausting legal battle after the squatters who had been living in her house without paying her rent sued her for unlawful eviction and burglary. The bizarre story dates back to the summer of 2022, when Maria seized the opportunity to reclaim her property when the people living in it without paying her rent went on vacation. She had tried reasoning with them to get them to pay rent or leave the house, but they refused, and the authorities refused to get involved, so she took matters into her own hands. She changed the locks on the doors and sold some of the squatters’ belongings at a garage sale to get back some of the money they owed her. That proved to be a big mistake!