Lisa Hardy, an Indianapolis woman who famously lived in an abandoned, company-owned house for nine years without paying rent after her employer went to prison for mortgage fraud and the real estate company collapsed.
Her remarkable situation unfolded through a specific set of circumstances:
In 2005, she was working as a leasing agent for a property management company that offered her the perk of living in one of their properties rent-free as long as she remained employed.
Her boss was sent to prison, and the company went under, leaving her without a landlord or anyone to pay rent to.
The "Forgotten" Years: Because the local city government was overwhelmed with thousands of foreclosed homes during the housing market crash, Hardy's house slipped through the cracks of the system. No bank, landlord, or government official ever came to claim the property or demand rent.
The Outcome: She stayed for nine years, treating it as her own by paying utilities, tending the garden, and installing appliances, until the house was eventually auctioned off to an investment firm.