Home buyer battles neighbours swimming in her $1.29m backyard

An tenacious home buyer is sharing how she won a battle with her local community over the ownership of a creek that runs through her backyard.

Taralyn Romero revealed her neighbours were using her property like a public waterpark.

She made headlines in the US over the spat with her Colorado neighbourhood and county officials and is seeking remedy from the vendors who sold her the home.

In a series of TikTok posts, an interview with Realtor and an appearance on Fox News, Romero explained she bought the property in 2021 and did her due diligence.

She and her fiancé were thrilled to purchase an idyllic piece of Kittredge, with a gushing creek through lush gardens, all for themselves.

They paid $US840,000 ($AU1.29 million) – about $US40,000 above asking price.

However, she claims she was not made aware that for more than 35 years, families in Kittredge have used the creek for swimming, picnicking and fishing.

Not long after she and her fiancé moved in, flocks of families descended on the property to cast a line, have a few beers and play with their kids. She filmed it for her social media followers.

Her efforts to stop them landed her in hot water with the local council. Jefferson County sued her after she reported trespassers and asked officials what she could do about it.

Instead of helping her resolve the problem, Romero told Realtor the county whacked her with an adverse possession lawsuit.

In a TikTok video captioned “on my way to see justice for my dream home”, she shows dozens of families with water floaties, deck chairs and drink coolers, taking a dip and relaxing on the bank of the creek.

It would be a delightful scene, except Romero said she was under the fair impression this was her private property.

At first, she thought a few people fishing in the creek was no big deal, she told Realtor. She and her fiancé had just moved in and not yet erected a fence. But it soon became obvious this was not an occasional occurrence, with more neighbours arriving daily, on mass.

She said the lawsuit was akin to the “real-life Salem witch trial”, the New York Post reports, quoting Realtor. Romero nicked-named herself The Wicked Witch of the West for how she says she was perceived by the community.

“Unfortunately this is exactly what happened to me and this why I am going after the people who sold me this home, with a creek running through the backyard, and decided not to tell me that the public was using it as a public park,” she told her 246,000-strong TikTok audience.

“So if you want to come along on my journey as I try to hold the prior homeowners accountable, click the follow button.”

She is suing the sellers, alleging fraudulent concealment, fraudulent inducement, breach of contract, including failure to assist her when she was sued by the local county, and breach of duty of good faith and fair dealing.

“You did not deal fairly,” she says. “It is 52 pages in total”.

She settled with the county, selling a portion of her property to them for $US250,000. They added this the neighbourhood parkland, for public use. Romero kept 70 per cent of her original estate – including, crucially, a large stretch of the creek.

Romero now helps other homeowners facing similar legal conundrums.