Eviction notice filed against more than a dozen people living on rural property

An Oxford Township property owner has filed eviction proceedings against more than a dozen people she says are illegally occupying a rural 208-acre property without permission.

The complaint, filed in the Butler County Area I Court on May 29, identified the plaintiff as the trustee of a trust that owns a large property in northern Oxford Township. The property has a farmhouse, a barn and uninhabitable small outbuildings, according to the complaint. A 2003 decision from Butler County Building and Zoning labeled the farmhouse itself as uninhabitable.

Despite the conditions of the buildings, the complaint alleges that 17 named individuals and “numerous other unknown people” are “impermissibly occupying the property.” The farmhouse and some of the outbuildings appear occupied according to the complaint, “and there also appear to be make-shift shelters and possibly tents in the woods” on the property.

Charles Maddox, a lawyer with Bolin & Troy representing the plaintiff, declined to comment on the complaint, citing pending litigation.

The property is currently being leased to one person to farm the land but not live on the property. Other than the farm lease, the complaint states, no one occupying the property has entered into a legal agreement to be there. The plaintiff posted multiple notices to vacate the premises in May, but the occupants “continue to unlawfully and forcibly” stay on the property, according to the complaint.

Numerous Oxford Township Police Department incident reports detailing alleged criminal activity at the property were included in the complaint. In a March 15 incident, a male reported getting shot in his right arm during an altercation at the property. A responding officer spoke to one occupant who said he heard three gunshot wounds, and the officer saw a bullet hole and blood on the victim’s truck. The incident did not result in charges, and neither the victim nor the suspect were identified by name as defendants in the complaint.

Dispatch notes included in the complaint note that the Oxford Township Police Department should always send two officers on calls to the property “due to issues with the residents.” The notes are labeled as “officer safety.”

The eviction proceedings are scheduled for a hearing on June 18.