Taralyn Romero got into a dispute with neighbours after buying her dream home with a creek in her back yard.

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A Colorado woman bought her dream home in a secluded spot with a creek running through the backyard, thinking she’d hit the jackpot with her near $1m purchase.

Then everything went south.

Instead she was dubbed the “Wicked Witch of the West” by locals and had to fight the government for ownership.

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Taralyn Romero said her “American dream was shattered and rose-coloured glasses punched off her face” when local residents started crowding in her backyard to use the creek, according to Realtor.

She was then sued by Jefferson County commissioners for ownership of the land, claiming adverse possession, accretion, and public use via prescriptive easement.

In January 2021, Romero said she and her fiance were “spit out into the housing crisis” when their landlord decided to move into their rental, so they decided to buy instead at a time when bidding wars were rampant.

“It was chaos to even get in to see a house,” she says.

After a month searching for their forever home, they instantly fell in love with a five-bedroom home in the town of Kittredge on less than an acre of land.

Taralyn Romero didn’t get what she bargained for when she bought her ‘dream home’. Pictures: Tiktok / wickedwitch_ofthe_west

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The creek that ran through the backyard of Taralyn Romero’s property. Pictures: Tiktok / wickedwitch_ofthe_west

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“The first line of the listing said it had a creek going through the backyard. The house was right next to a park and had lots of character,” Romero told Realtor.

Romero bid $840,000 (AU$1.29m) — which was $40,000 (AU$61k) over the asking price—and later that night, the offer was accepted.

“We felt so blessed,” she says.

They did their due diligence by securing an appraisal, title insurance, and an Improvement Location Certificate before move-in day.

Dream becomes a nightmare

The five-bedroom home she purchased, in a town with a popular of just over 1,000 people. Pictures: Tiktok / wickedwitch_ofthe_west

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Not long after Romero and her fiance got the keys, they noticed a few people fishing in their backyard creek—which they initially considered no big deal.

After all, their property wasn’t yet fenced, but they planned to put one up in the next few months.

But before they could erect it, swarms of locals began to descend on the creek once school let out for summer.

“I was like, ‘Why are 55 people bringing lawn chairs, coolers, snacks, and beach umbrellas into my backyard to hang out all day?’” Romero says. “It was bewildering.”

A crowd gathered at the creek in Romero’s back yard. Pictures: Tiktok / wickedwitch_ofthe_west

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She found out that many of these people had been coming to the creek for 35 years.

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The home’s previous owners had apparently given the public permission to do so — but that was never once mentioned to Romero and her fiance when they’d purchased the home just months earlier.

Another screenshot of locals on Romero’s land. Pictures: Tiktok / wickedwitch_ofthe_west

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Romero was instantly worried about liability if something happened on her property.

“With a lot of little kids, a lot of beer, and a lot of mums on their phones, it was a recipe for disaster,” she says.

After attempting to peacefully share the property with locals, only for it to be totally trashed, Romero eventually put up “No Trespassing” signs.

But the signs enraged the locals, with many calling her a nasty woman, a land thief, and even the Wicked Witch of the West.

Many people believed the creek was part of the park, and they were outraged she was trying to stop them from using it. Some even began yelling at Romero and snapping trees in protest.

The signs the new homeowner put up were quickly vandalised. Pictures: Tiktok / wickedwitch_ofthe_west

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Reaching out to city officials backfires

Romero called the city to try to get things straightened out.

“Your park visitors are on my private property, and I’m liable for them — we’ve got a problem,” she recalls telling county officials.

They said they would research the matter — but soon hit her with a lawsuit instead.

Jefferson County commissioners sued Romero in 2022 for ownership of the land, claiming adverse possession, accretion, and public use via prescriptive easement.

Locals weren’t happy with Romero’s moves. Pictures: Tiktok / wickedwitch_ofthe_west

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Romero shares what some of the locals called her. Pictures: Tiktok / wickedwitch_ofthe_west

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“The government went after me to take my property because the community believed it should be theirs,” says Romero. “The government should say ‘Our survey says it’s hers—we don’t care what you believe, because it’s private property and we believe in private property rights.’ But they teamed up with the bullies instead,” Romero added.

Social media to the rescue

Fed up and fired up, Romero took to TikTok, dubbing herself the “Wicked Witch of the West.”

As she began documenting her “real-life Salem witch trial,” she gained more than 241,000 followers—with her videos amassing millions of views.

Survey map of Romero’s property in 2021. Pictures: Tiktok / wickedwitch_ofthe_west

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Not only did social media get her story more exposure, Romero said it also “attracted the helpers—the people all over the world who ended up writing the commissioners, attending meetings virtually, and making phone calls on my behalf.”

After a long, hard battle, Romero’s lawsuit with the county was settled in May 2023.

Romero agreed to sell 0.099 acres of her land, including part of the creek, to the county for $250,000 (AU$384,750) — and it’s now officially part of Kittredge Park.

The county erected a fence along the newly established property line and stretched a rope over the water to divide the public area from Romero’s private property.

Photos from neighbour dispute about creek in her yard. Pictures: Tiktok / wickedwitch_ofthe_west

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Romero retained 70 per cent of her land and kept part of the creek. “It was a win for me, and a win for the community,” she said.

Days after her lawsuit with the county was settled, Romero found a sticky note with the word “fair” in a child’s handwriting hanging on a tree branch near the creek.

“I grabbed it, and it’s hanging on the computer monitor in my office now and forever,” Romero said.