Flash Shelton’s Own Frustrating Experiences With Squatters Led Him to Host the A&E Series

Imagine working for years to save enough money to put a down payment on a property in a high-value area. A piece of land with a building on it that your children could inherit and rent out, so they wouldn't have to work as hard as you did just to get by.

Now imagine renting that place out to someone who agreed to pay you to live there. But after a while, they decided they weren't happy with the living arrangement.

But just the portion that involves them paying you for that space.

That's what A&E's TV show, Squatters, hosted by Flash Shelton, is all about.

In 2019, Flash said that squatters "took over his late father's home in 2019." He initially thought that a call to local authorities would easily sort out the mess.

Unfortunately, that didn't turn out to be the case: he was informed that, legally, there was nothing deputies could do to oust the squatters.

In an interview with Fox News, he said that laws are almost unanimously supportive of squatters, whilst leaving the legal owners of properties out in the cold.

"All of the rights, not just some of the rights, but all of the rights fall to the squatter."

Additionally, Flash said that many squatters are well-versed in how to ensure they stay on a property against the owner's will. "Squatters figure out different ways to take properties, and they know what to say. The whole system is wrong."

One method that squatters use, Flasg warned, is by falsely promising to pay rent just to enter into a lease. Once a property owner signs that agreement, the squatter is considered a tenant. And getting them out is often a frustratingly lengthy and difficult process.

Which is a confounding double standard, the TV show host explained: "Every single other contract would be null and void if you enter it, and you sign it under fraudulent means."

Flash explained how squatter's rights originated, but that in many scenarios, it isn't large, corporate-owned housing complexes that are being taken advantage of by squatters.

"Originally, the system was designed because they were looking at homeowners as being rich. And they were looking at tenants as being poor. So they created a system to level those terms. But what they forgot is the fact that homeowners are not all rich and just because you own a mortgage, doesn't mean that you have money," he told the outlet.

Flash continued: "It is unfavorably unbalanced right now and it is failing homeowners." He added that lawmakers should be concerned with re-evaluating squatters' rights laws to protect folks who've dedicated their lives to owning a home.

And that many of these individuals aren't exactly sporting massive bank accounts. "I think they need to understand try to relate to somebody that doesn't have the money to go through these situations that some of these people are losing homes over this because they can't afford to fight."

But he ensured to operate "within the guidelines of the law." Doing so protected both himself legally and the homeowners in the process.

For Flash, the most rewarding aspect of hosting the show is to demonstrate to viewers at home different ways they can deal with squatters if they ever find themselves in the unenviable predicament of having to expel them from their homes.