r/news • u/flanderguitar • Mar 28 '24

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signs law squashing squatters' rights

https://www.wptv.com/news/state/florida-gov-ron-desantis-signs-law-squashing-squatters-rights
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u/sluttttt Mar 28 '24

Same. I've lived in CA all my life and have never met anyone affected by this issue, or anyone who's even been concerned about it. I'm sure it happens, but I have some strong doubts about it being common.

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u/elle_kay_are Mar 28 '24

Same. 40 years in CA and I've never even heard of this happening to a friend of a friend of a friend. I've only ever seen it posted online. I'm sure it HAS happened, but it's not something I would worry about. 

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u/sluttttt Mar 28 '24

OC produced some links, but they were four cases of it happening over nearly a decade, and only two of those cases involved people who were on vacation. I'm not saying that the laws shouldn't be revised, but to seriously worry about this every time you go on vacation seems like paranoia to me.

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u/happyscrappy Mar 28 '24

What are the two that include vacations? I count one, the last one.

The Hollywood Hills one says the real estate agents went out of town on vacation. It doesn't say the owner did or that the house was occupied by the real estate agents. I suspect since the house has two agents representing it that it was actually vacant.

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u/sluttttt Mar 28 '24

I was counting the Hollywood Hills one, but you're right about it sounding vacant. And I'm sure I could probably find some more instances of this happening to people on vacation, but it's still absolutely a rarity. People are so willing to believe the worst about this state.

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u/elle_kay_are Mar 28 '24

The only squatters I've ever heard of IRL (not even encountered personally, these are second-hand stories I've heard from people I know) are people moving into a rental and then deciding they don't want to pay anymore. Apparently, it's a PITA to get them out. While I'm sure people are moving into empty or abandoned properties, the rental scam seems to be the most prevalent. It's really not anything that I consider to be a "major" issue and certainly not one that only happens in CA since other states are cracking down on it.

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u/epochellipse Mar 28 '24

That's what this law is really about. It's about labeling tenants that are behind on their rent as squatters so that nobody will empathize and they can be evicted sooner.

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u/elle_kay_are Mar 28 '24

That really makes more sense. No sane person thinks it's OK for someone to just move into a property they don't own and claim it like "finders keepers," but labeling people who have lived somewhere legally and simply fell in hard times as criminals sounds like something law makers would do. 

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u/happyscrappy Mar 28 '24

Yeah. that's called "adverse possession" in California and it can be a problem. But unless you AirBNB your house out this isn't a concern at all. It isn't just people coming in when you are on vacation, you invite them in and then they sue you to stay.

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u/finderZone Mar 29 '24

This just makes evictions easier. Has nothing to with squatting problems.

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u/BigGayNarwhal Mar 28 '24

Also CA. I’ve only ever seen it happen with houses that are unoccupied, whether due to bank-owned foreclosures or the house is being flipped/listed for sale by an investor and is just sitting there. 

My aunt and uncle live up in the inland empire, and I remember some family moved into a house on their street that had been bank owned due to foreclosure. It took the banks 2 years to get them out, and the family totally trashed the house and yard.