There's always the danger that you aren't getting "the rest of the story". I do know that renters will "take over" property and treat is as their own, and it's hard to get them out when they don't pay rent or are damaging the property. If this is true this is one instance when a "flash mob" would come in handy. It's a shame this couple doesn't have a large group of friends and neighbors that could go into that house, move those people out and let the couple back in. I saw something similar on the news, but it was in, I think, new zealand. The owners hired private detectives to go into the house and run the "squatters" out and change the locks, and it was legal. Not sure of all the details, there may have been minor differences in the cases, but it sounds like the same thing.