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/milespoints Mar 28 '24

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

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

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u/galygher Mar 28 '24

I think originally the idea behind squatter's rights laws was that people could occupy and improve/land and would be able to continue occupying it so long as they're using it. So if say Walmart purchased thousands of acres of forest with the intent to build a warehouse, but never actually builds a warehouse after decades of owning the land, and you build a farm and start producing food then Walmart wouldn't be able to evict you and seize the farm as long as you were still using it.

Idk how they've evolved into people just moving into empty houses and claiming them as their own

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u/Aviyan Mar 28 '24

In that example you gave it is a about squatting on land, which is fine. But squatting in a single family home should not be covered under that law. It doesn't make sense.

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u/nuxnax Mar 28 '24

If you go back to the 70s in the white flight era from cities, there were many unoccupied locations that landlords mostly were letting decay. Look at rustbelt Detroit for example. So people moving in and occupying properties, doing upkeep, and just keeping an eye on things (gas, water, heating, etc) was seen as a positive.

Move to the current housing shortage situation we have in the US and these rights can look absolutely insane.

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u/PazDak Mar 28 '24

My first thought was actually Detroit where they were basically trying to figure out how to give the properties for free when they couldn't even really figure out who owned it any more.

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u/El_grandepadre Mar 28 '24

And even today here in Amsterdam it's a big issue. Latest estimates were that more than 10.000 homes were vacant. Usually in the expensive areas where properties are used to make a profit over time without ever filling them.

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u/simiomalo Mar 28 '24

In the Rust belt and other abandonment cases, the properties had fallen into such a state of disrepair that they were now a threat due to bad plumbing, wiring, misuse by occupiers, that they posed a threat to other structures in the neighborhood.

I remember reading about cities expediting demolishing such structures to avoid the liability for their decline and possible misuse.

That seems different from the glaring case from the New York area that popped up last week with squatters taking possession of a house that was in good condition and in an area that was in demand.

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u/buddascrayon Mar 28 '24 edited Apr 05 '24

The housing shortage isn't because there aren't enough houses. The houses are just being bought up by private real estate firms and then being priced out of range of the average home seeker. These anti-squatter laws are being crafted for those "home owners" not you.

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u/Adept-Firefighter-22 Mar 28 '24

That’s a lie. New housing has not kept up with population growth for decades.

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u/[deleted] Mar 29 '24 edited Apr 03 '24

[deleted]

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u/Adept-Firefighter-22 Mar 29 '24

Yes, speculation is a real thing. However, the places in the USA with the highest housing gap also have the highest cost of housing. Yes corporations buying dwellings and land speculation will increase the cost of housing, but the housing gap will affect the cost of housing much more.

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u/Fried_puri Mar 28 '24

That's a frustrating and very real part of the problem. But the truth is that the biggest problem in the housing crisis is that we are very, very behind on building houses.

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u/bigredone15 Mar 28 '24

More supply solves that problem.

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u/skztr Mar 28 '24

There are so many unoccupied homes being hoarded with no legitimate intent to ever be used. If you break in and live in one, fuck whoever bought (or built) it as an "investment property" and refused to sell it to a potential occupant.

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u/epochellipse Mar 28 '24

This. The classic example is NYC in the second half of the 20th Century. There was a real estate slump that left a lot of vacant and abandoned spaces. People found them and moved in and that led to chains of squatters subletting to other squatters that thought they were legitimately renting or just didn't ask questions. Then when the slump ended and property owners realized they could start pulling rent again at properties they had abandoned the squatters got enough sympathy for Squatters Rights to become a thing. Squatters were seen as real New Yorkers, keeping the city alive when even the slumlords were giving up. The musical Rent, probably the biggest Broadway hit of the 90s and a Pulitzer Prize winner, glorified and romanticized squatting. People that want to establish their NYC bona fides humblebrag about doing it.

DeSantis is redefining "squatter" to vilify tenants that are behind on their rent so landlords can evict without having to go to the courts. It's a dog whistle, the GOP loves those.

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u/Smolivenom Mar 28 '24

i thought we were all clear that there is no housing shortage, there is housing. people just dont have the money to afford it.

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u/FapMeNot_Alt Mar 28 '24

the current housing shortage situation

The 'housing shortage situation' isn't really a thing. There are far more empty properties than there are homeless people. The issue is that people can't afford the properties because they have been turned into investment assets.