By Lisa Alguire,

Public Health Nurse

 

They say, your home should be your sanctuary.

It’s the one place where you should feel safe, secure, and protected.

However, for people experiencing a “home takeover,” this isn’t the case. And the place that should feel like a sanctuary has become a place where the resident feels in danger, scared, or threatened.

For more than a year, Grey Bruce Public Health has been working with Grey County and other community partners to examine and develop strategies to address the emerging issue of home takeovers in the area.

This multi-sectoral collaboration set out to investigate the prevalence of home takeovers locally, understand the current response to home takeovers and gaps in that response, raise awareness of the issue, and create a framework to help guide community partners’ responses to home takeovers.

 

SO, WHAT IS A HOME TAKEOVER?

To fully understand the issue of home takeovers, it’s important to start with the basics.

A simple definition has been developed. A home takeover occurs when a vulnerable homeowner or tenant is forced to accommodate an unwanted guest in their home.

Building upon that definition, the perpetrator of a home takeover could be a relative, friend, or acquaintance of the home’s legitimate occupant. They may have initially been invited to stay over – often to fulfil a personal, social, or economic need of the occupant.

For example, an older adult may allow someone to stay in their home to help with household expenses, such as rent or food. Perhaps, they allowed the person to stay over because they were lonely or feeling isolated. Other factors that might contribute to the occupant’s vulnerability to a home takeover include empathy for the perpetrator’s situation, a desire to help or significant pressure to house the perpetrator. No matter what the initial reason may be, the invited guest eventually “takes over” the home.

The situation becomes a home takeover when the perpetrator refuses to leave and their actions or activities make the occupant feel unsafe, uncomfortable, or threatened in their own home.

In other words, the home no longer feels like a safe place.

 

IMPACTS OF A HOME TAKEOVER

Threats, guilt, violence, manipulation, or financial exploitation are among the reasons the legitimate occupant of a home may accommodate the perpetrator of a home takeover.

Consequences of a home takeover may include loss of control within the home or eviction. As an example, if the perpetrator engages in illegal activity within the unit, the occupant could face eviction. This can be devastating to a vulnerable tenant, particularly if they lose their place in community housing.

For children, the home and neighbourhood are fundamental for healthy growth and development, including mental health. Witnessing neighbourhood violence and victimization impacts children even when the home takeover is not happening in their own home.

Many homeowners or tenants may find they are unable to avoid or escape the perpetrator due to a lack of supports or resources.

 

LOCAL COLLABORATION

In the fall of 2021, Grey County Housing began seeing home takeovers happening in community housing neighbourhoods. The tenants, families, or individuals taking over the unit(s) and the neighbourhood were negatively affected by home takeovers.

To better understand the issue, Grey Bruce Public Health staff researched what was known about home takeovers. That research indicated that perpetrators are most likely to target people who have vulnerabilities.

Several community partners were invited to meet and discuss the research findings. They also participated in a survey to understand the current response and gaps in responding to a home takeover in Grey County. The survey found that half of the community partners surveyed had not heard of the term ‘home takeover,’ but nearly all had encountered dealing with a home takeover in the past 12 months.

A Home Takeover Advisory Committee was formed. It includes housing organizations, mental health and addiction services, police, fire, and other community organizations.

As part of a pilot project, a comprehensive plan was developed with the goal of reducing the incidence of home takeovers. Several resources and materials were created to raise awareness of home takeovers within relevant organizations and the general public.

A Home Takeover Response Framework and Pathway were developed as an approach to build community partners’ capacity to prevent, identify, respond to, and support recovery from home takeovers.

Every home takeover situation is unique in its circumstances, and the complexities associated with home takeovers require good judgement from service providers in deciding on the most appropriate course of action. The Response Framework defines the roles of each community partner involved in a home takeover and outlines how we can respond using a more co-ordinated approach.

 

RAISING AWARENESS

To help raise awareness about home takeovers, the advisory committee has developed brochures, flyers, and other resources.

One of the documents lays out questions that you can ask yourself to help determine if a family member, friend, or someone else you know is at risk of experiencing a home takeover.

Here are some examples of those questions:

• Have you seen a change in the person’s behaviour?
• Are they more withdrawn or are they not showing up where you would normally see them?
• Is the person telling you they’re always out of money or food?
• Are they showing signs of weakness, weight loss, stress, or abuse?
• Has the person told you they have a guest?
• Have you noticed increased activity around the person’s home?
• Is there more noise coming from the person’s unit than usual?
• Are there people you don’t recognize around the person’s home or is the same guest always coming and going from the person’s home?

 

For service providers in Grey-Bruce, the following may indicate a home takeover is occurring with the tenant:

• The individual becomes reluctant to allow the worker into their home or requests that meetings occur outside the home.
• The tenant has not checked in with the worker in some time and is noticeably absent from the home. Some home takeover targets turn up in shelters despite being legitimate tenants of a rented unit because they have been forced out or no longer feel comfortable in their own home.
• Landlords or property managers may receive an increase in complaints about a unit, particularly concerning noise, excessive visitors, increases in cars or bikes outside, and the uncharacteristic presence of young people at the property.
• There is a noticeable change in the tenant’s financial situation, including an uncharacteristic inability to pay rent, bills or buy groceries.
• The tenant’s physical appearance has deteriorated.
• There is an increase in reports that the individual has become more isolated from friends, family and/or social groups.
• If given access to the home, contents within suggest that more individuals are staying in the unit than those that reside there, or in some cases, the takeover perpetrator(s) are there.

 

HOME TAKEOVER RESOURCES

This year, the Home Takeover project will continue to focus on raising awareness about the issue in our communities, as well as gaining a better understanding of the prevalence of home takeovers and other social needs in the community through data collection.

Grey Bruce Public Health is planning to hold events to help educate people about Home Takeovers. It will also be using its social media platforms to help spread awareness.

Resources, like pamphlets and posters, will help spread the word about this emerging issue.

The Home Takeover Advisory Committee has developed a 10-question checklist, entitled “Welcomed Guest or Home Takeover?,” to help homeowners or tenants determine if they are experiencing (or at risk of experiencing) a home takeover. It is important to protect your home and reach out for support when needed.

A Guidebook for Organizations and Service Providers, along with an accompanying presentation, has been created to assist organizations and service providers to offer opportunities for education and awareness concerning home takeovers for vulnerable tenants, frontline workers and the broader community.

All of these resources are available on the Grey Bruce Public Health website under the Your Environment drop-down menu and Healthy Housing, Home Takeover.

Everyone should feel safe in their own home.

Targets of a home takeover are encouraged to talk to someone they trust. That might be a support worker, landlord, family member, neighbour or friend.

Not sure who to call? Call or text 211.