
<p>There are some portions of our legal system that just do not seem right. ; I still am dumbfounded by the fact that folks steal and sell a person’s home – or borrow against it &#8212; without their knowledge and get away with it. ; That does not seem right.</p>



<p>In another real estate matter, homeowners have been frustrated and damaged by squatters who take over a person’s home and refuse to leave. ; There are several types of squatters. Those who literally and illegally break into a person’s home and refuse to leave. ; Others are non-related people who may have been invited to stay in the home but are no longer welcomed. ; Others are renters who cease paying the rent – or even folks who stop paying the mortgage. ; (FYI, the mortgage holder is the actual owner. ; They hold titles.)</p>



<p>Florida has passed a law to address most of these issues.</p>



<p>For the sake of brevity, I will not go into the multitude of examples of the problem. ; They are horrific – and there are scores of them easily found by a quick Internet search. ; Let us just stipulate that it is a very big problem.</p>



<p>The problem has become so huge that it has created a market for companies that can be hired to “encourage” squatters to leave the premises they illegally occupy. ; In some cases, the squat-busters move in with the squatter and make their lives something between uncomfortable and miserable.</p>



<p>It makes no sense that a homeowner should have no power over a person seizing ownership – or borrowing against the equity – of a home they do not own. ; Or from people residing in a home without authority. ;</p>



<p>The solution is simple – theoretically. ; The homeowner asks the person to leave. ; If they do not, they call the local sheriff and file a criminal trespassing charge. ; After an immediate assessment of the facts, the squatters are told to leave. ; If they do not leave, they are arrested and physically removed. ; The entire process should not take more than a day or two.</p>



<p>If an abusive spouse can be arrested and removed on the spot &#8230; or if a burglar can be arrested and removed immediately &#8212; why not the abusive squatter?</p>



<p>What cockamamie laws shift the constitutional property rights from the owner to the squatter? ; Weeell &#8230; the laws come under headings like “squatter rights” and “adverse possession.” ; The latter is a legal concept that enables a person to gain control of someone else’s property by squatting openly and continuously without the owner’s permission. There is often an established time requirement.</p>



<p>The manner in which laws are written and enforced can lead to long, even years, of litigation to have an unwanted squatter removed. ; Laws like breaking and entering, fraud, forgery, vandalism and theft are rarely enforced in such cases.</p>



<p>Squatters are smart. ; They know the laws. ; They know that to get evicted, the owner will have to spend huge amounts of money on lawyers and court costs – while losing even more from rent, the inability to sell the property and the loss of their own use. Owners are still required to pay mortgages, utilities, etc. ; In many cases, owners simply pay large sums of money to the squatters to get them to leave.</p>



<p>So, who supports the laws and procedures that enable squatting in defiance of a person’s constitutional rights? ; Who champions the false theory of “squatter rights.” ;</p>



<p>If you think that it must be those folks on the far left, you are right. ; For them it is not a matter of constitutional rights, but their generally perceived conflict between the “haves” and the “have nots.” ;</p>



<p>The pro-squatter coalition includes leftwing politicians and political activists. ; They claim that property ownership should not take precedence over alleged “human rights.” ; It is a matter of “social justice” – and other terms that obfuscate the facts and arbitrarily create “rights” that do not exist under the law. ; In fact, it is a violation of the legitimate rights of homeowners and landlords. ;</p>



<p>These are the same folks who have created the homeless crisis that is plaguing major cities while doing little to help the homeless – and the same people who advocate for criminals as victims.</p>



<p>Florida has recently passed a law that reinstates the rights of homeowners. ; It provides for the immediate removal of anyone who does not possess a lease on the property from the owner – with additional penalties for producing a fraudulent lease. ; It also adds criminal penalties for fraudulently acquiring, selling or leasing the personal property of another person.</p>



<p>That seems logical. ; One can only wonder why that has not been the case or the practice for so many years.</p>



<p>This is just another reason why so many folks are moving to Florida.</p>



<p>So, there ‘tis.</p>

Not so easy to squat in Florida anymore
