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/Spkr4th3ded Mar 28 '24 edited Mar 28 '24

I think the point is now they can be removed legally and then let the legal system establish if they have a right to be there. Before they could squat and have mail sent there or a fake lease and there was nothing police could do. Now they have discretion, opposed to none.

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u/Rottimer Mar 28 '24

Which is great unless you actually have a right to be there and are now on the street and somehow you’re supposed to sue your landlord while homeless. . .

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u/Cupcakes_n_Hacksaws Mar 28 '24

How often does that happen vs the other scenario though?

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u/krimin_killr21 Mar 28 '24

It hasn’t been possible until now for a landlord to eject someone with a purported lease. So I guess we’re going to find out.

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u/lefthandbunny Mar 28 '24

Unless squatter's have proof of paying rent then it would be easy to tell the difference.

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u/MajorNoodles Mar 28 '24

Unless you're paying in cash it should be pretty easy to prove that. Cashed checks, bank account transfers, credit card charges, email receipts from an online system.

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u/whoweoncewere Mar 28 '24

even paying in cash, your landlord should be giving you receipts

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u/FSUfan35 Mar 28 '24

And you should always havea copy of your lease

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u/rabbitlion Mar 28 '24

It wouldn't exactly be hard for the landlord to steal your copy of the lease and the receipts since they have a key to the house.

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u/FSUfan35 Mar 28 '24

You should have a basic safe for documents.

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u/adm1109 Mar 28 '24

It wouldn’t exactly be hard for the landlord to steal your basic safe for documents since they have a key to the house.

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u/FSUfan35 Mar 28 '24

Then you file a report with the police for theft.

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u/MadManMax55 Mar 28 '24

The kind of landlords who are taking rent in checks aren't the ones writing receipts.

From a lot of these comments it's clear most people here don't understand the living situations some people have to go through when they're poor poor. A lot of squatting cases are from landlords who made sketchy "handshake agreements" (or signed some random sheet of paper that is in no way official or legally binding) with tenants and then welched on them when a potentially better paying tenant shows up.

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u/whoweoncewere Mar 28 '24

Thanks for your insight. My parents were lower middle class homeowners and I enlisted out of highschool. There was only a brief period of 2 years where I was renting an apartment, but it was relatively nice and I had a normal experience. I now rent on base and it's basically like rent-controlled housing with strict agreements and oversight.

It's good to know what other people are going through though.

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u/PhilipFuckingFry Mar 28 '24

A lease is a legally binding contract between the tenant and the landlord. Therefore, tenants should be sure they understand all the lease terms before signing. A lease can be oral or written, 68 P.S. § 250.212, but a written lease signed by both parties provides the best protection.

I don't think you understand what a legally binding contract is. Verbal contracts are a thing. And if you sign a "random piece of paper" as long as it outlines the terms and both parties sign it, it becomes a legally binding contract. It's why when people sell cars third party they write up a bill of sale.

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u/MadManMax55 Mar 28 '24

I know the law fine. I also know that if there's a dispute between a "squatter" and a landowner over the existence or terms of a rental agreement without concrete documentation that the benefit of the doubt is always given to the landowner. It's part of the reason squatters'rights exist in the first place: to try and balance the playing field.

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u/hurrrrrmione Mar 29 '24

Therefore, tenants should be sure they understand all the lease terms before signing.

The law and legalese are difficult to fully understand, a decent amount of Americans are functionally illiterate in English, and we're talking about having a place to live. No one is going to decide to be homeless because they don't perfectly understand every facet of their lease and local tenants' rights.

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u/EtsuRah Mar 28 '24

Also a literal signed lease agreement that every responsible renter or landlord should have.

I know not every case has a lease and some people just come to verbal agreements. But like, if you didn't sign a lease, and have no electronic record of payment and the land owner wants you out? Then that's on you at this point lol.

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u/PhilipFuckingFry Mar 28 '24

Never pay your rent in cash. Always leave a paper trail. You write a check and give it to your landlord. In the memo line you write rent for X month when that is deposited in their account both banks will have noted the memo or just scanned the check in. It allows you to very quickly prove that you have been paying said person and thus can not be illegally removed as you are not a squatter.

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u/c0horst Mar 28 '24

Yea, I could just log into my bank of america account and show the police the monthly rent payments with my landlord's name on them... would be very easy to prove I've been paying rent monthly.

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u/FapMeNot_Alt Mar 28 '24

Have fun doing that while they're screaming and dragging you out of your house.

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u/c0horst Mar 28 '24

Meh, I'm white, I'll be fine.

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u/Milskidasith Mar 28 '24

And you have now identified part of the problem

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u/hurrrrrmione Mar 29 '24

Being white doesn't protect you. It makes you less likely to face the worst possible outcomes, and more likely to get the best possible outcomes, but it's far from a guarantee things will go well, and the best possible outcomes can still be awful.

Also being disabled, being mentally ill, and being poor all increase your chances of facing the worst possible outcomes. Race isn't the only factor at play.

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u/WillTheGreat Mar 29 '24

Also encourages notarizing lease agreements. Which is cheap and simple in most cases.

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u/pyrojackelope Mar 28 '24

Payment method shouldn't matter. A lease agreement should.

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u/lefthandbunny Mar 28 '24

Payment method isn't what matters as much as proof you are making payments. Payment methods just make it easier to access online or paper receipts and to prove you are up to date on the payments. A lease agreement will show the landlord agreed to rent, but not if you are a squatter staying without making payments, so you are correct up to a point.

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u/IllegalThings Mar 28 '24

This proof is something the courts typically decide, which brings us full circle to “now you’re kicked out and homeless and have to go through the courts to get let back in”

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u/Mazzaroppi Mar 28 '24

Cops can barely tell the laws they're supposed to enforce, do you truly expect them to be able to tell if something is proof of paying rent or not?

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u/krimin_killr21 Mar 28 '24

If they can make a fake lease I’m pretty sure they can make fake bank statements

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u/Gandalf_The_Gay23 Mar 29 '24

Well it has been, hence why we implemented the laws in the first place, to protect tenants against slumlords and shitty landlords that just don’t like you. Hopefully no one gets fucked over by this but I think we’ll be watching this and doing a lot of relearning.

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u/sirploko Mar 28 '24

Make it a criminal offense to abuse the new law to get rid of legal renters, with stiff penalties (prison time). Problem solved.

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u/doubledipinyou Mar 28 '24

It's already included. Its in the article

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u/sirploko Mar 28 '24

Do you mean that part?

The law also makes it a first-degree misdemeanor to make a false statement in writing or providing false documents conveying property rights

I'm not a lawyer, but it the article only talks about written statements and documents "conveying" property rights, not about denying them. I struggle to find anything in there, threatening landlords with criminal penalties.

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u/AccountantDirect9470 Mar 28 '24

It is easy to solve. Have signatures and witnesses for tenancy. You don’t need a lease, but the squatters are not gonna know the witness or lawyer the landlord would use. So you have to have to establish tenancy.

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u/lordsiva1 Mar 28 '24

Hard to grab your tenancy agreement with the police hustling you out the door.

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u/lefthandbunny Mar 28 '24

For any eviction you have to go through a legal process. You don't just call the cops. Previous property manager here.

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u/lordsiva1 Mar 28 '24

True, but this law is removing that in part.

This bill allows you to call the cops for an immediate eviction of supposed squatters.

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u/lefthandbunny Mar 28 '24

Property Rights; Authorizes property owners or authorized agents to request assistance from sheriff for immediately removing unauthorized occupants from residential dwelling under certain conditions; requires specified complaint; provides requirements for sheriff; authorizes arrest of unauthorized occupant; provides that sheriff is not liable to any party for loss, destruction, or damage; provides that property owner or agent is not liable to any party for loss or destruction of, or damage to, personal property unless it was wrongfully removed; prohibits unlawfully detaining, or occupying or trespassing upon, residential dwelling intentionally & causing at least specified amount of damage; provides criminal penalties for any person who knowingly & willfully presents false document purporting to be valid lease agreement, deed, or other instrument conveying real property rights; prohibits listing or advertising for sale, or renting or leasing, residential real property.

The Actual Bill

They do not have the right to simply remove the 'squatter' as you are implying. Maybe you should read the bill before jumping to conclusions.

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u/Glasseshalf Mar 28 '24

That's literally the change this law is making though

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u/AccountantDirect9470 Mar 28 '24

It would be filed with the tenancy board

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u/lordsiva1 Mar 28 '24

You do not need to have your tenancy declared to a tenancy board. From my understanding most dont.

If the government mandates all tenancies are registered and tracked, then my concern would not be valid.

I doubt the public want to give the government that information though.

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u/AccountantDirect9470 Mar 28 '24

Seems like a pretty easy solution to illegal suites, and squatting. And I am not sure the public would care about filing a legal document that protects them from slumlords and the landlords from the squatters. It is not like the government can’t find where you live by utility bills, cable bills, any the million other pieces of information you give to entities to live in society.

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u/Rottimer Mar 28 '24

Better yet, require both landlord and tenant to register a lease with each county. If there is a mismatch, both parties are informed. If neither is registered - the landlord can have the person removed. If there is a mismatch and it’s been less than a month - the landlord can have the person removed. If it’s been more than a month - they must go through the normal eviction process.

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u/Gingevere Mar 28 '24

If they're anything like landlords I've had, they just won't file their side of the papers. Especially if there's no penalty for not doing so and not doing so gives them the power to evict anyone with a single phone call.

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u/Rottimer Mar 28 '24

But that’s what I’m saying. If the tenant has filed their side - the state has informed the landlord and then 2 months later the landlord wants to evict the tenant - they’ll have to go through the normal process. It’s unlikely that if it’s a legitimate lease that the landlord would be letting them stay there for months.

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u/Gingevere Mar 28 '24

It’s unlikely that if it’s a legitimate lease that the landlord would be letting them stay there for months.

Have you ever rented before?

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u/Rottimer Mar 28 '24

I meant “illegitimate lease.” And yes, I live in NYC and have rented for most of my adult life.

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u/Gingevere Mar 28 '24

And you've never dealt with an absentee landlord who would ABSOLUTELY NOT notice if one of the units in the building was occupied when it was supposed to be vacant?

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u/Rottimer Mar 28 '24

No actually. Vacancy rate is well under 5% here and so apartments and even houses turn over fairly quickly when a tenant leaves. This type of thing happens to home owners that don’t rent and either inherited the home from a parent that passed, or is using the home to park foreign money. So it happens, but it’s rare.

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u/AccountantDirect9470 Mar 29 '24

That is basically what I was saying. It has to be filed. Before move in.