Squatter Rights
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Saw a story about this in the Houston area not long ago. The squatter noticed a home was empty, and so they moved in, changed the locks, brought furniture, and claimed to be the owners. It was surprisingly difficult for the real owner to prove they were trespassing. It's one of those situations where civilization rests to a large degree on agreement to act sanely.
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Simple answer. Leases should need to be registered with the county. If there is a squatter, it should be able to be resolved in 30 days.
The Brad
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New Florida law...
Link to video -
What's interesting to me is that even though some states require a 30 day residency to establish squatting, for practical purposes, that's often not true. All one has to do is claim that you've been their 30 days and/or create a fictional document that they've leased the property. Police don't want to adjudicate anything - a court date is set, and by the time court comes up, the 30 days have been established. At least that's what appears to have happened in a couple of cases.
Can you imagine going to the grocery, someone breaks into your house, claims to be a resident? Wouldn't be a good idea for someone to try this with Jolly.
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What astonishes me is that it’s a misdemeanor. That is theft of well over a $1000… And then the looting of the house and damages?
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Simple answer. Leases should need to be registered with the county. If there is a squatter, it should be able to be resolved in 30 days.
@LuFins-Dad said in Squatter Rights:
Simple answer. Leases should need to be registered with the county. If there is a squatter, it should be able to be resolved in 30 days.
Many local governments require rental registration. The complication does not stem only from “tenant” vs “non-tenant”, but also guests or even family members/relatives refusing to leave; people you welcomed and allowed to stay but then overstayed that welcome.
I am all for making it quick and easy for the rightful owners of properties to take back their properties, but can appreciate the complexity when it comes to distinguishing between tenants, trespassers, squatters, jaded lovers/common law spouses, roommates/housemates, estranged relatives, victims of rental/property scams, etc. The police is not setup to figure out the right classification for any given perpetrator, so the rightful property owner calls the police and the police says “go have the court figure this out then we will just execute the court’s order.” Then you get stories like the once referenced in the opening post. Get rid of all the so-called “squatters rights” and you will get sap stories about poor family members being violently thrown out of houses into the streets instead.
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https://www.thecut.com/article/kate-gladstone-roommate-west-village-nyc.html
(An older article, but still interesting)
The Nightmare Share She posted an ad for a roommate. What’s the worst that could happen?
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What's interesting to me is that even though some states require a 30 day residency to establish squatting, for practical purposes, that's often not true. All one has to do is claim that you've been their 30 days and/or create a fictional document that they've leased the property. Police don't want to adjudicate anything - a court date is set, and by the time court comes up, the 30 days have been established. At least that's what appears to have happened in a couple of cases.
Can you imagine going to the grocery, someone breaks into your house, claims to be a resident? Wouldn't be a good idea for someone to try this with Jolly.
@kluurs said in Squatter Rights:
What's interesting to me is that even though some states require a 30 day residency to establish squatting, for practical purposes, that's often not true. All one has to do is claim that you've been their 30 days and/or create a fictional document that they've leased the property. Police don't want to adjudicate anything - a court date is set, and by the time court comes up, the 30 days have been established. At least that's what appears to have happened in a couple of cases.
Can you imagine going to the grocery, someone breaks into your house, claims to be a resident? Wouldn't be a good idea for someone to try this with Jolly.
Castle doctrine.
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Stumbled onto this epic squatter's story:
One man checked into a New York hotel for one night, paid $200, then exploited the state's Rent Stabilization Act and stayed for five years without paying another dime. Not only that, he even got the City to transfer the entire hotel's deed to his name at one point. He has since been evicted and is facing criminal charges.
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Follow up to the original post
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@taiwan_girl said in Squatter Rights:
Follow up to the original post
It's the woman's house, bottom line. Throw the squatters out in the snow with any and all possesions.
All the rest is just lace.
