U.S. News
Homeowners in Legal Battles with Squatters Across the Country [Video]
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW!
- Homeowners across the country are struggling to regain control of their properties after they are taken over by squatters.
- Legal battles to remove squatters can be lengthy and expensive, leaving homeowners in a difficult position.
- The coronavirus pandemic and eviction moratoriums have contributed to an increase in squatting cases across the country.
Squatting is becoming an increasingly common issue for homeowners across the United States, with legal battles to remove squatters often lengthy and expensive. Real estate lawyer Jim Burling warns that any home left unoccupied for a period of time can be a target of squatters, who may take over a property and refuse to leave.
In some cases, organized criminal groups may target vacant properties due to foreclosures or deaths. Squatting has become particularly prevalent in areas with high levels of homelessness, such as the Pacific Northwest, where encampments on abandoned properties can have disastrous consequences for neighboring homeowners.
The coronavirus pandemic and associated eviction moratoriums have also contributed to an increase in squatting cases across the country. Some tenants have essentially become squatters who cannot be legally removed from properties, even if they owe significant amounts in rent.
In addition, homeowners have fallen victim to a law known as “adverse possession,” where someone who has openly lived on a property for a long period of time can be granted ownership of the property.
This can lead to legal battles, as seen in the case of Burton Banks in Delaware, who lost a $125,000 parcel of land to his neighbor due to adverse possession laws.
Legal battles to remove squatters can be difficult and time-consuming, leaving homeowners in a difficult position. Police are often unable to determine who has the legal right to a property and must leave it to the court system to decide.
This can take six months or longer and may not result in a satisfactory outcome for the homeowner. Burling recommends that homeowners remain vigilant and keep their properties tightly secured to avoid becoming a target of squatters.
Source: foxnews.com
CandygramForMongo
March 23, 2023 at 6:34 am
Here’s where the use of the 2A comes in.
max
March 23, 2023 at 8:52 am
In some states (mostly blue)_ if you use the 2a you are the criminal not the victim. so beware of that one. remember the Mccloskys in Missouri,. they were defending themselves , their dog and their home from about three hundred blm activist. They were arrested and never fired a shot. this is the new USSA . we hated the old capitilist USA and all the blessings we had were not good enough so we had for fall for this USSA socialist crap. Here it is and we will certainly enjoy it .
meredith
March 23, 2023 at 9:21 am
You don’t know what you’ve got until it is gone.
Jaoquin
March 23, 2023 at 11:03 am
My thoughts exactly!
Jaoquin
March 23, 2023 at 11:05 am
My reply was in response to CandygramForMongo’s post.
James
March 23, 2023 at 8:00 am
Who are these squatters. Illegals? They come here to this country illegally, welcomed with open arms by the Democrats and Biden, given free everything, even a place to live, paid for by the American people who are working to provide for themselves and their families and paying taxes that are wasted by crooked politicians. This county is being ruined by the crooked politicians we have put in office, We have got to stop voting our politics and start voting for the people most qualified to do the job. Some of them will not work, being paid by these politicians not to work, with all the freebees promiced by these politicians, hoping to get their vote, Jobs open everywhere, help wanted signs everywhere you look, businesses being shut down after 50-60 years because they can get no help, most have uncreased the wages about double the minimum wage. Sometimes I wonder if we have any honest politicians left in this country. Most of them go into office with nothing and come out millionaires. Sad. I am 92 years old, have never seen this country in the shape it is now in. I don’t think it can get much worse and still survive.
max
March 23, 2023 at 8:58 am
My husband and I are aged too. so we know that the USA was truly a blessed country. We revered him and loved him and today we turned away from him more than before. Our country is now worse than Sodom and Gommorah with unbelieveable things going on there. Our nation fell to socialism which is nothing more than old fashion communism, nazism and fascism. all in a glorified bundle called socialism. It is not the lefts plan to make anything better, but to decimate this country , take it down to a third world level. I feel the USA will completely fall.
Tim Kuehl
March 23, 2023 at 8:39 am
If you own property where you don’t live inspect it frequently and if you see evidence of anybody using your property without paying you to use it then remove any structures, destroy any garden or anything else the trespasser built, it’s your right to do so. Also file a police report of the trespassers. If you see any unauthorized people trespassing file a police report and have them removed before they’ve been there for an extended period. When interacting with the police have copies of documents – property tax receipts, utility bills, deed, etc. – if not the documents themselves in your name. Copies of deeds and other filed documents are available at the county clerk’s office. Don’t let them squat or give reason to claim adverse possession. I understand the property owner in Delaware didn’t know the woman who successfully claimed adverse possession of his property had a goat pen on his property for several years. I heard of a case in Texas where an Ohio couple bought some acreage where they intended to build their retirement home. They fully paid for this property and paid property taxes all along but when they approached retirement and visited the property to make plans for their new home the man who sold the property to them was running cattle on it unbeknown to the property owners. When they told him their plans and that he had to remove his cattle he successfully claimed adverse possession because the owners had not used or visited the property since he sold it to them. Stand up for your rights but you cannot let squatters get their foot in the door or laws written to protect honest renters will be used against you.
max
March 23, 2023 at 9:04 am
I read an article where a couple went on a vacation a week or two. came back and found a black couple living in their apt. all furniture, belongings were gone, all that was left was their bed and the bl. couple were sleeping in that. they were lucky in that when they woke up and found the owners there they ran out the door. If they were to refuse and say this is our place It was rented to us, the owners would have had a more serious problem. So beware. Arent things more exciting than before? the dull old USA is gone and this is you glorious new life. Wait till the supply crisis really hits. that is nest, or is it another pandemic worse than the last. can;t hardly wait.
Daniel S
March 23, 2023 at 10:03 am
Kick them out literally. Back home in Romania, if you don’t have permit to live there we grab you by the scruff and toss out like garbage. They don’t return after that
Thomas Milton
March 23, 2023 at 10:18 am
Maybe you’d like to go back to Romania.
Mathew S. Molk
March 23, 2023 at 10:48 am
Get a remodeling permit from the building department. Remove the service lateral and electric meter. Cut and cap the gas line. Dig down and cut off the sewer. Sure it will cost you 5 or 10 grand but the health department will do the eviction for you. Then close up the windows and change the locks. Then if they break in and come back they are burgles and the cops will take them away. ,,,,,
Mathew S. Molk
March 23, 2023 at 10:52 am
Maybe if you and twits like you would grow a set THIS country would not be under a state of siege at the Southern border and from within by woke commies. = Tossing out the garbage sounds like a GREAT idea to me. …. How is it squatters are cool but Rugged Individualists are now considered nut case scum?
CPO Bill
March 23, 2023 at 4:13 pm
I’d beat the biden out of em!