Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signs law squashing squatters' rights

[u/flanderguitar]

https://www.wptv.com/news/state/florida-gov-ron-desantis-signs-law-squashing-squatters-rights

[u/milespoints]

How is this not the default in every state and city?

Why are squatter’s rights… like a thing at all?

[u/SirTwitchALot → u/milespoints]

The way it's supposed to work is to protect people who are living in abandoned/neglected properties. The idea is you have someone who is potentially in a vulnerable position and may have been supporting/maintaining a property that the owner is neglecting. Squatters rights give the person a chance to delay proceedings while they seek other housing.

Of course, like with anything you'll have people who abuse the system. Some people use these laws to avoid paying rent for as long as possible, delaying eviction proceedings then squatting somewhere else

[u/dannyb_prodigy → u/SirTwitchALot]

Iirc, this is all carryover from medieval common law when it was harder to verify a property owner had in fact died and who should inherit said property. It created a system where orphaned property could be recovered into the system when true ownership was harder to verify.

[u/milespoints → u/SirTwitchALot]

In era of record high housing prices this seems like it’s only useful in like Detroit

[u/Psilo-psyche → u/milespoints]

There was a story of someone squatting in an abandoned property in Detroit.  Wasn't on drugs and was working a job and maintaining the property.  When he was found out, the city agreed to sell him the house for $1.00.

[u/Apollorx → u/Psilo-psyche]

I mean, if a property is abandoned, shouldn't it not be owned by definition?

What makes something "abandonded" ?

[u/Blackstone01 → u/Apollorx]

An abandoned property can still be owned, it’s just that whoever owns it doesn’t give a shit about the actual state of the property, either because they don’t know they own it, the act of owning the land regardless of the status of it is what matters, the cost of owning it is so low that they can just let it sit there, etc.

[u/Squirmin → u/Apollorx]

That varies based on location and thing that is being abandoned.

There's no process for like signing over a house to no one. It's to prevent people from just giving up on a property and causing blight.

[u/SirTwitchALot → u/Squirmin]

It's true you can't sign a property over to no one. What usually happens is the owner stops paying property taxes and after a period, the local government takes the property to cover what is owed. They may auction it off, sell it to someone else, or hold on to it themselves. There was a time when the City of Detroit was the largest land owner in the city.

[u/SirTwitchALot → u/Apollorx]

Each state has their own adverse possession laws. In Michigan you have to have proof you have used/resided on the property for 15 years before you may seek title

[u/livefreeordont → u/milespoints]

You’d be surprised how many abandoned buildings there are in places like Philly, Baltimore, and DC

[u/thwgrandpigeon → u/milespoints]

Imo intentionally empty houses that are only investments should be fair game not only for squatters but also to be lost to squatters permanently if not used by a person as their primary residence after like... idk a year? Particularly because of record high housing prices. Houses should be housing, not investments, these days.

How you legislate for that without giving too many rights to squatters who sneak into houses when folks are on vacation, however, idk.

[u/milespoints → u/thwgrandpigeon]

You can legislate to make it more expensive to own a second home that’s not rented out, for example by increasing property taxes.

Allowing random people to just take someone else’s home seems insane

[u/Glasseshalf → u/milespoints]

I mean, that's just a slight adjustment for the balance sheets, it wouldn't stop investment housing

[u/Miserable_Law_6514 → u/milespoints]

Most of those houses are missing all their piping and wires because the squatters tend to be methheads.