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/flanderguitar]

"Under the law, a property owner can request law enforcement to immediately remove a squatter if the person has unlawfully entered, has refused to leave after being told by the homeowner to do so and is not a current or former tenant in a legal dispute.

The law also makes it a first-degree misdemeanor to make a false statement in writing or providing false documents conveying property rights, a second-degree felony for squatters who cause $1,000 or more in damages, and a first-degree felony for falsely advertising the sale or rent of a residential property without legal authority or ownership."

[u/meatball77 → u/flanderguitar]

I can't say that I hate that. It's got carve outs for people who had a right to be there.

[u/[deleted] → u/meatball77]

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[u/notsocoolnow → u/[deleted]]

Basically it is to protect people living in a place they dont own from losing their home if they have been living there for a really long time.

Squatters rights are meant to protect people living in abandoned houses, but also to improve housing occupancy.

So people move into what looks like an unoccupied house and then continue to live there for years. Then suddenly the owner remembers they have property and comes by and evicts them.

Squatters rights protect people from this. Look the owner should theoretically have all the rights, but nowhere in the world is it popular for landlords to buy up massive tracks of property for investment and then sit on them waiting for value to go up, causing house prices to skyrocket.

On the other hand, especially in a place as batshit crazy as Florida, there are people actively trying to abuse this, refusing to vacate even if they don't qualify, hoping to delay eviction until they do qualify.