Airbnb Squatter Claims Tenants’ Rights

I really can’t stand squatters. This story comes out of Washington, DC where a woman named Rochanne Douglas was renting her property as an Airbnb. She accepted a new guest who was supposed to be there for 30 days. Her name is  Shadija Romero and she claimed she was fleeing her home which had been damaged in a fire. So Romero moved in as an Airbnb guest in February and at the end of her 30 day stay she simply refused to leave.

That reservation ended on March 29th, after 32 days. After being a guest for 30 days, Romero started to claim residency at the home and is claiming forms of tenants’ rights and refuses to let Rochanne enter the property.

“I never gave her any tenancy,” said Douglas. “I never gave her a lease.”

Douglas agreed to accept money directly and Romero continued to pay her “rent” up through August but then it started coming late with excuses and Douglas had had enough.

After receiving the September payment in installments, Douglas said she again issued vacate notices to Romero and told her if she wasn’t out by Oct. 15, she would have the power turned off.

“I don’t even want your money,” Douglas said she told Romero. “We don’t have an agreement.”

On the 15th, when she still had not heard back from Romero, Douglas had the power turned off. But when she went to check on the house, the power was back on.

Romero, Douglas said, had transferred the Pepco account into her name and had the electricity restored. Douglas said Romero told her she couldn’t turn off the power because she was a tenant and had tenant rights.

Meanwhile, Douglas had learned that Romero had lied about the house fire. In fact, this wasn’t the first time she’d been evicted. She’s been doing this for a long time.

What Romero hadn’t told Douglas was that she was in the process of being evicted from her prior apartment for not paying rent. Romero owed nearly $50,000 in back rent for an apartment in the District in 2024, according to court records reviewed by The Washington Post.

In 2023, D.C. Superior Court ordered Romero’s eviction from another D.C. apartment building for nonpayment of rent. A public records search reveals that Romero had at least a dozen judgments or liens filed against her going back to 2008, most of them landlord-tenant disputes in Maryland and Virginia.

Douglas even offered Romero money to vacate. Romero agreed and signed an agreement saying she’d leave by November 15th but that date came and went and Romero still wouldn’t leave. Finally, on Thanksgiving it seemed she’d caught a break. Neighbors informed her that Romero had left the home.

The next morning Douglas went back with police and entered the home. No one was inside, and the police, Douglas said, told her she could change the locks and secure the property. She took batteries out of the electronic locks and had contractors board up the home. Later she had the electricity and water turned off. Police informed Douglas, she said, that if Romero reentered the property she could be arrested for breaking and entering.

But just a few days later neighbors again reached out to Douglas to tell her Romero was back in the property, this time accompanied by police. Douglas said police allowed Romero to remove the locks and reenter the home. She was right back where she started.

The police were breaking and entering on behalf of a long-term squatter. Then a judge ordered her to turn the electricity and water back on until a decision was reached. Finally, on Dec. 11, the judge sided with Douglas.

A D.C. judge ruled Thursday that Shadija Romero does not have tenancy rights and sided with the homeowner, finding that the agreement she previously signed to leave the property remains valid.

The judge had been weighing whether Romero, the woman at the center of an alleged squatting case, could legally remain in the home as her past and her credibility came into light…

In a previous interview with 7News D.C. Bureau Reporter Phylicia Ashley, she denied ever being evicted — even when presented with court records showing otherwise.

But in court Thursday, Romero said she does not recall whether she was evicted and argued that the issue is not relevant. Her prior eviction case was also entered into evidence.

Romero asked the judge to seal the case, probably so her next victim couldn’t find it and use it in court. The judge refused. Last Thursday, Douglas finally got her home back and began moving all of Romero’s belongings onto the street.

It really shouldn’t take this many months with this many missteps to get back into your own home but that’s the way it is in too many jurisdictions. Here’s the ABC7 news story that brought this case to a wider audience.