The Brief

A Minneapolis homeowner is struggling to remove a renter who refuses to leave.

The renter, Tess Schmidt, has a history of overstaying in short-term rentals across several states.

Legal processes for eviction can be lengthy, leaving homeowners in difficult situations.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - A Minneapolis woman is facing challenges in evicting a renter who has overstayed her welcome and hasn’t paid rent since June.

Homeowners face eviction challenges

What we know

A Minneapolis woman is finding it nearly impossible to get rid of a one-time renter who has a habit of not leaving when she’s supposed to.

The serial squatter has made herself at home in rental rooms around Minnesota and Wisconsin over the last few years.

She’s stayed at a Folwell neighborhood home since May and hasn’t paid since June, but the homeowner can’t just lock her out because it’s considered a landlord-tenant situation, so it has to go through the courts.

“She just kind of sidled her way in,” Michelle Caravello told FOX 9. “And honestly, I dropped the ball. I didn’t vet her.”

Schmidt’s history of squatting

What they’re saying

Caravello had experience finding traveling nurses and short-term renters for three years.

Then Tess Schmidt came for what was supposed to be a two-week stay.

“Two weeks go by, and she’s not ready to leave. Two more weeks go and somebody else is supposed to come,” Caravello said. “They have a lease. And she’s still sitting on my sofa when they arrive. When I told her she had to leave, she said, ‘You can say that all you want, but it doesn’t mean it’s going to happen.’”

More in U.S.

Tess Schmidt or Contessa Schmidt or Contessa von Schmidt is frequently an unwelcome guest at short-term rentals, as she was last year at Susan Clarke’s St. Paul home.

“She wouldn’t leave,” Clarke said. “And I called the police on her. And they said they couldn’t do anything.”

Limited law enforcement

A lengthy process

Police are often helpless in these situations without an unlawful detainer (UD), a court eviction notice.

The process can take weeks or months, and they’re not filed in every case, but we found nine eviction cases against Schmidt in four states.

In one of the court filings, an attorney says he found at least ten victims in six states.

Law enforcement has removed her from at least one Wisconsin home, but she’s done the same thing again at least three places since.

“She knows the system in and out,” Caravello said. “And she uses it and she uses people. She steals from people and she doesn’t care. She really doesn’t, she has got mental issues, but she needs to be stopped. She’s hurting people.”

Confronting the squatter

The backstory

Schmidt walked back into Caravello’s house during the FOX9 interview, so our reporter confronted Schmidt about her squatting history.

“Ten people in six states say you’ve squatted in their houses,” the reporter said. “You have repeated UD orders from people in Minnesota, Wisconsin, all over the country.”

“I’m not going to answer this,” Schmidt said. “I travel a lot and every so often the numbers are going to, you’re going to run into issues.” She refused to answer any other questions.

Legal and financial implications

What you can do

We talked to five of the victims, and they all tell us they spent thousands of dollars trying to get rid of Schmidt.

One of the Wisconsin victims set up a GoFundMe to help Caravello pay for her expenses.

An attorney told FOX 9 the best way to prevent this is to make sure to go through the websites — like AirBnB or VRBO, which can ban certain users — and if all else fails, file for eviction quickly.

The Source

Information from interviews with affected homeowners and legal experts.