Woman relieved after deceased ex-husband's girlfriend is evicted from home after years of squatting
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A Norwood Park man died years ago, but his live-in girlfriend apparently never left the home – that is, until Cook County Sheriff's deputies recently threw her out with an eviction.
CBS 2's Charlie De Mar spoke Wednesday with the woman who has been pushing for the eviction, and who says the process simply takes too long.
"And all of a sudden, I hear this, 'Boom! Boom! Boom!'" said Jeannette Lesnicki.
The loud bangs neighbors heard recently were the sound of Cook County Sheriff's deputies knocking down the door of a Norwood Park home to serve an eviction.
Carmen Cinquini spent 10 years living in the house, and her name remains on the mortgage.
"My ex-husband died in 2019 - and his girlfriend continued to squat here until just last Friday," Cinquini said in late March.
Cinquini was present for the eviction, and says her dead husband's girlfriend has now gotten the boot.
De Mar: "What was that like seeing her escorted out?"
Cinquini: "Relief - you know, like, a rush of relief. It should not take this long to get someone out of a home they don't belong in; they haven't paid a penny for."
The home was foreclosed and property of the bank. Cinquini says some of her belongings are still in the home.
"She did not deserve to be in there," Cinquini said. "She had no right to be in there."
Landlord-tenant experts say evictions typically take around six to eight months. Cinquini says due to the eviction moratorium during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, her case kept getting delayed.
Cook County does not track squatter cases.
Landlord-tenant attorney Michael Zink is not involved in this dispute, but did offer analysis.
"It really hurts owners when they have a squatter in a property, because that process is going to be another six or eight months thereafter," Zink said.
"That whole process just takes way too long," added Cinquini.
