NEED TO KNOW
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Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos are executive producing the six-part Hulu documentary series «"Squatters: Get the hell out of my house.".
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The series explores shocking real-life cases of squatters exploiting legal loopholes to seize homeowners' properties.
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Ripa told PEOPLE that the stories outraged her, while Consuelos said he was shocked by how difficult it is to evict occupiers.
Kelly Ripa says she couldn't believe her eyes when she helped bring Hulu's new documentary series to life. «Squatters: Get the hell out from my house"» .
The TV host and producer, who is executive producing the six-part series with her husband, Mark Consuelos, through their production company, Milojo, told PEOPLE that many of the real-life stories featured in the show angered her.
«"I'm so outraged by the injustice," Ripa says. "I was shaking, trembling with rage, through half of these stories.".
The series, which is now available to stream on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+ for U.S. package subscribers, follows homeowners across the country as they battle alleged squatters who have seized their properties and, in some cases, exploited tenant protection laws and legal loopholes to stay there.
For Consuelos, one of the most shocking discoveries was how difficult it is for landlords to evict someone from their property once they have settled in.
«"Oh, I'd be in big trouble if that happened to me," he says. "Everything I thought was against the law.".
«"People's first reaction is, 'No, no, no, that's easy. Just throw them out of the house,'" he continues. "But it's not easy.".
«"Squatters: Get the hell out of my house!" (Photo: ABC News Studios)
The project's genesis dates back to the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when Ripa came across an article in Vanity Fair about the infamous case of squatting in a Malibu home. She immediately realized it could become a bigger story.
«"I said, 'This is incredible. We have to make something out of this. This is absolutely amazing,'" she recalled.
The six-episode documentary series examines various cases from across the country, including a Queens homeowner who was arrested while attempting to enter her own property after a squatter claimed legal occupancy.
«"She did everything right and she got arrested," says Ripa, 55.
Consuelos, 55, says the story remains one of the cases that has touched him the most.
«"I feel sorry for them the most because they weren't trying to rent out the house," he says. "They sell it. And before you know it, the locks on their house are being changed.".
Viewers will also meet a Malibu homeowner whose life is upended by a woman who allegedly abuses her rights to live rent-free; a Colorado family who claims a man posing as a deceased relative's common-law husband has seized their home; a Los Angeles investigation into a millionaire's missing property; a Florida homeowner who wages a 36-day battle against alleged squatters; and a Newark, New Jersey, woman whose fight to reclaim her first home escalates into a standoff with SWAT.
The deeper Ripa and Consuelos delved into the topic, the more amazed they were by what they learned.
«"Frankly, we're just beginning to understand this issue," Consuelos says. "I think it's not just a state-by-state issue, but a community-by-community issue.".
«"Squatters: Get the hell out of my house!" (Photo: ABC News Studios)
Ripa said she was particularly alarmed by the damage many homeowners said they suffered even after they reclaimed their properties.
«"It's the criminals' audacity, but also their extremely destructive nature," she says. "They're not just squatting in your home, they're profiting from it by subletting it to anyone.".
She continues: "They then devalue your property by taking out all the appliances, the light fixtures, the beautiful chandeliers, ripping out the wood floors, selling everything. They destroy everything.".
«"Squatters: Get the hell out of my house!" (Photo: ABC News Studios)
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Consuelos believes viewers will likely experience the same frustration he and his wife felt while filming the show.
«"I think that's what you'll notice when you watch the show—your jaw will drop," he says. "You won't believe they got away with it until you see the ending, which is quite funny.".
Read the original article on People.