An Ohio mom hired someone to clean out her house – they took the dogs, ran up $1K in bills, and now she’s selling her stuff. ‘So I have to support them completely?’

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He thought he would clean his house. Instead, a stranger walks in with ten dogs — and now she’s stuck with a utility bill.

An Ohio woman took to Reddit for help after turning a routine cleaning job into a full-blown squatter situation. In her post, she said she hired a crew to prepare her house for sale. But instead of settling down, a group reportedly moved in — and never left. Now she claims they’re running up her utility bills, causing chaos in the neighborhood, and refusing to leave.

Cleaning team or coup?

“I paid to clean the house because I was planning to sell it,” she said. “Instead of cleaning it up, they went in.” The woman, who previously failed to go through the eviction process, now says she is crying out for guidance after bouncing from one legal dead to another.

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“The police sent me to court. The court said I needed the district court. The district court gave me the number of someone who said they represented the squatters – but refused to answer any of my questions.”

To make matters worse, the unwanted people brought 10 large dogs with them. This has created safety concerns, especially for neighbors. A nearby resident who runs a daycare told the homeowner that parents and children had to go inside after seeing the dogs panicking. “I can’t even enter the property safely,” the woman added. “Animal control refuses to help me unless the dogs are euthanized.”

‘Do I need to do a second job?’

According to the landlord, in just one month, the squatters racked up nearly $1,000 in water, gas and electricity bills. Desperate to keep going, she says she’s now going through her own stuff to find things she can sell. “I guess in Ohio you can’t shut off the utilities,” he wrote before asking, “So I have to support them completely from here? Do I need to work a second job to support these people?”

And this isn’t someone with a vacancy — she’s a mother of six, trying to sell a house, not bankrolling another family who’s renting.

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Commenters came up with suggestions ranging from the practical to the unorthodox. Some encouraged him to stop paying bills and shut off utilities due to non-payment – arguing that they might not be legally required to maintain them.

Others suggested the classic “new legal tenant” solution: get a tough-looking dude in with a signed lease and let them make life uncomfortable for the squatters. “Give them a lease agreement, give them electricity and change their name,” one person advised. “They can turn off the breakers, eat all the food, sleep in the squatters’ beds, borrow their cars … Eventually, the intruders will leave.”

But not everyone thought the plan would work. “They would probably welcome the company,” replied the original poster. “They don’t care as long as they get to stay.”

Others urged her to weaponize public pressure — to get neighbors to call the police, report noise or dog problems, and smell the daycare across the house. “If kids can’t come to their own property or daycare, animal control or the sheriff’s department may be able to do something out of public safety interest,” one user said.

Some also suggested leaning into local ordinances — checking whether the number of dogs exceeds the legal limit or whether any businesses are on a registry that prohibits them from living near schools or child care centers.

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Not everyone is cut out for the landlord life

For homeowners, stories like these aren’t just frustrating — they’re financially and emotionally draining. The cost of squatter-related damages, legal fees, and lost income can be brutal. Even in a seller’s market, offloading a foreclosed property is difficult. As one commenter put it bluntly: “Post a house for sale anyway – maybe someone dumb enough will still buy it.”

But if the thought of handing over your keys to a cleaning crew that turns into long-term residents sounds like a nightmare, there are ways to make real estate income without the drama.

Platforms like Arrived let you invest as little as $100 in fractional shares of rental houses. You get a slice of passive income—without the late-night dog complaints, legal gymnastics, or surprise roommates. While laws vary by state, and squatter headaches can still occur in certain markets, Arrival handles property management, rent collection, and tenant screening so investors don’t have to. For anyone confused by traditional homeownership, it’s a way for strangers to build wealth without having to deal with gas bills.

A house turned into a handout

The original poster still doesn’t have a clear path. He is not a householder. He never signed the lease. But somehow, she’s stuck paying to keep the lights on for people who refuse to clean up and never leave, on her account.

“I might have to wire it to the bank,” she admitted, “because I don’t have an ‘extra’ $1,000 a month to support another family.”

This is the kind of real-life horror story that will help you look at “passive income” a little differently. Because sometimes, when someone else moves into your house, you’re the one paying the rent.

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This article Ohio mom hired someone to clean her house – they took the dogs, ran up $1K in bills, and now she’s selling her stuff. ‘So I have to support them completely?’ Originally appeared on Benzinga.com

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