{"id":409250,"date":"2025-11-27T22:08:14","date_gmt":"2025-11-27T22:08:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/409250\/"},"modified":"2025-11-27T22:08:14","modified_gmt":"2025-11-27T22:08:14","slug":"houston-squatter-lawsuit-dismissed-after-court-battle-almost-cost-woman-her-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/409250\/","title":{"rendered":"Houston \u2018squatter\u2019 lawsuit dismissed after court battle almost cost woman her home"},"content":{"rendered":"

Houston<\/strong> \u2013 A lawsuit was dismissed in an \u201cadverse possession\u201d case, a woman said, that nearly cost her a home that had been in her family for more than 70 years. <\/p>\n

Glory Gendrett contacted<\/a> 2 Investigates in April about her home on Clover St., near Scott, in Houston\u2019s Sunnyside neighborhood.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a huge part of my family because my father built that house,\u201d said Gendrett during an interview in April.<\/p>\n

Gendrett said the home was built in the 1940s, and she moved out in 2014 because a break-in prompted security concerns. <\/p>\n

She also said she couldn\u2019t afford to keep paying property taxes and was working with her five siblings to figure out what to do with the house.<\/p>\n

Gendrett then asked her son for help after learning a man claimed to live in the home.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw a guy approach me and say this was his house, and I\u2019m like, \u2018No, it\u2019s not your house, I grew up in this house, it\u2019s my family\u2019s house,\u2018\u201d said Lloyd Hudson, Jr. in April.<\/p>\n

Gendrett was then hit with an \u201cadverse possession\u201d lawsuit. <\/p>\n

Court records read that Marquise Busby claimed he\u2019d been living and caring for the property since 2014; therefore, it belonged to him through \u201cadverse possession.\u201d<\/p>\n

When 2 Investigates visited the property, it was in a state of disrepair.<\/p>\n

After our story aired, veteran Houston attorney Dennis McQueen offered to defend the family against the lawsuit. <\/p>\n

In a response to Busby\u2019s lawsuit, McQueen cited our story when disputing the claim that the property was continuously maintained.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe court entered a final judgment more than a month ago, which found that he has no rights, title, or interest in the property,\u201d said McQueen.<\/p>\n

Court records show the judge signed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit this week. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re actually in the process of getting the property ready to sell so it can satisfy the neighborhood concerns about the dilapidated house, also satisfy the past due taxes on the property, and put some money in Ms. Gendrett\u2019s pocket,\u201d said McQueen.<\/p>\n

McQueen said these cases are not uncommon and typically happen when someone dies, and the home sits vacant because heirs either don\u2019t know about the property or can\u2019t afford to pay back property taxes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019ve got a house that you haven\u2019t paid taxes on for a long time and you don\u2019t go there, go and check on it, go check on the property,\u201d said McQueen. \u201cThe important thing is you check on the property to make sure no one is living there.\u201d<\/p>\n

McQueen also said, \u2018Don\u2019t let unpaid taxes dissuade you from dealing with a property. He said to try to get the property up for sale so back taxes can be paid and some money recouped. <\/p>\n

Two new laws were passed last legislative session to help property owners deal with issues similar to what Gendrett experienced. Senate Bill 1333 <\/a> allows property owners to file an affidavit of ownership with a Sheriff or Constable\u2019s Office to have a \u201csquatter\u201d removed immediately, instead of going through a lengthy court battle. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou do this affidavit,\u201d said McQueen. \u201cYou show how this is your property or your family\u2019s property; you file it with the Constable. The Constable has the right, based on that affidavit, to go to the house and immediately remove that person without going through the whole eviction process,” said McQueen. <\/p>\n

Senate Bill 38<\/a> also helps streamline the process of removing someone from a property through Justices of the Peace courts. <\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Houston \u2013 A lawsuit was dismissed in an \u201cadverse possession\u201d case, a woman said, that nearly cost her…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":409251,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5130],"tags":[192693,42397,4345,16844,192694,192695,76400,358,3187],"class_list":{"0":"post-409250","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston","8":"tag-adverse-possession","9":"tag-home-ownership","10":"tag-houston","11":"tag-investigates","12":"tag-property-rights","13":"tag-real-estate-laws","14":"tag-squatters","15":"tag-texas","16":"tag-tx"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115623946032268811","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=409250"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409250\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/409251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=409250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=409250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=409250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}