Reports say Loletha Hale, the homeowner, first discovered the alleged squatter, Sakemeyia Johnson, back in August. 
It's reported the previous tenant had been evicted from the home, and Johnson was living with the former tenant.
Johnson received a squatting citation.
A report from the New York Post says a court ordered Johnson to move out of the home in mid-November, but around that time, a Magistrate Court Judge in Clayton County ruled that Johnson is not a squatter.
On Dec. 9, Hale and a man reportedly went to her property to clean and paint in preparation for the next renter.
Hale says the locks were broken, and Sakemeyia Johnson was back inside, living in the house.
Mark Miller is Senior Attorney with Pacific Legal Foundation.
He talked about the issue of squatting.
"Really, it goes back a number of years, but it's become severe since the pandemic, and it's become most severe in some of the coastal states like Georgia, like Florida, Texas, also New York and California. And Georgia was ahead of the curve. Gov. Kemp and the Georgia Legislature earlier this year passed the Squatter Reform Act, designed specifically to make sure that when a woman like Loletha Hale, who's the homeowner here, when she when she finds a squatter in her property, she should be able to call the police -- that's what the law says -- swear out an affadavit, and say, ‘This person has no right to be here.’ By and large, the police are supposed to put that squatter out on their ear."
No lease, no worries
He clarified Johnson did not have a lease to be in the house. 
"I think the legislature and Gov. Kemp would have expected a judge to say 'This woman can be removed immediately.' Instead Miss Hale is faced with this months-long eviction process that started in August, gets to late November. She's actually got the woman evicted, but even though she didn't think she should have to follow the court processes and she probably shouldn't have had to because it was a squatter, she followed the process. She, she observed the law, and nevertheless, the judge did not give her the writ of possession final when you when you get a tenant evicted, you have to get a document, it's called a writ of possession. She didn't get it. She just told the squatter- 'Get out'."
And that, Miller said, is what led to Hale's own arrest. She needed that signed writ of possession. Hale was charged with terroristic threats and criminal trespassing after she, “executed an illegal eviction and forcibly removed Ms. Johnson's belongings," according to authorities.
