Squatter removal services have popped up in a number of U.S. cities in recent years, but one in the San Francisco Bay Area has gone viral as it promises “we don’t play” and features a sword-wielding, mixed-martial-arts expert as its owner.
Billed on its website as the “#1 squatter removal service” in Northern California, ASAP Squatter Removal claims a 95 percent success rate with owner James Jacobs promising his service can get rid of unwanted occupants without the legal hassle of spending months in eviction court.
The service was featured this week on the San Francisco Bay Area’s KROM4, which gave free publicity to the company while at the same time using one of its legal experts to say it was probably a bad idea.
The story went viral and was picked up as far away as the East Coast with the New York Post reporting “a slew of videos posted online show Jacobs and his staff wielding a cache of weapons as they carry out the so-called squatter-evicting methods.”
According to its owner, the San Francisco-based company first conducts surveillance to pre-approve clients and make sure the squatters really are on the property illegally.
After that, the company performs what is called “breach and clear.”
“Breaking into the property and then clearing is actively going through the rooms and making sure there is no active threat,” he told the news station.
Jacobs demonstrated his skills on the street with a training sword but said a real Samurai blade accompanies him on a removal job.
“We have AR-15s, we have M90 shotguns,” he also told the outlet.
While swords and firearms appear to have gotten the attention of the news outlet, the service’s website states it uses a variety of methods to remove unwanted residents:
We have dozens of proven strategies tailored to every squatter situation. No matter how many there are, how smart they think they are, or how dangerous they may be — we always get them out. Once removed, we relocate their belongings to a safe retrieval location. No job is too big for us — we remove gang members and organized crime units from properties with precision and efficiency.
Jacobs said his company, which has been in business for seven years, signs lease agreements with the property owners, allowing his team to go in and remove squatters. He says the company’s practices are completely legal.
The news station’s legal analyst, Steven Clark, said that could be true but warned that violent tactics could lead to criminal liability.
“Sending someone in with a deadly weapon could certainly lead to a disaster,” analyst Steven Clark said in the report. “If there is a confrontation in the home, it isn’t just the security company that could be in trouble, but also the person that engaged the company.”
Jacobs did not appear to be worried.
“I have a million-dollar insurance policy, I have an in-house attorney,” he said during an on-camera interview. “Heck, people [make] wrongful claims against my business all the time, just to get money.”
The company features five, five-star reviews on its Yelp page.
“I was faced with a very difficult squatter situation and no help from local law enforcement,” read one review. “ASAP Squatter Removal resolved my squatter problem in just 3 days!”
ASAP Squatter Removal’s fee starts at $10,000, the news station reported.
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the author of the New York Times best seller House of Secrets and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.