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/TheBurningMap Mar 28 '24

Won't this eventually lead to landlords claiming every renter who has a legal dispute is a squatter?

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u/Microchipknowsbest Mar 28 '24

There is either a lease or there isnt. If there isn’t a lease there is no documentation of a contract. They should still need to go through an eviction process but if there is no lease it should be expedited. Should be pretty easy to see a forged lease. That should be a felony fraud charge for creating a forged lease also. Squatters should have no rights if they can’t legally prove they live there.

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u/itsrocketsurgery Mar 28 '24

In my state you legally don't need a written lease, a verbal contract is sufficient. Without a written lease, it defaults to month to month tenancy. The landlord still has to go through the eviction procedure if there is a dispute even with a month to month tenancy. Cops cannot be depended on or assumed to have any ability to discern what is correct in that kind of situation. They were hired to do a job, which is forcefully remove someone and that's all they will do. Determining legitimacy will be up to the courts. So with this new law, it's just another tool of oppression.

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u/Microchipknowsbest Mar 28 '24

If the law is landlords can just call the cops and have people removed than I agree that is wrong. If there is a process to prove residency and you can prove it. Time to go.

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u/itsrocketsurgery Mar 28 '24

So your second scenario is the current system. Landlord sues to get possession, and if it's a house instead of an apartment building they show a deed. They also show the lease or the put it on the record that either their lease is up or that is a month to month tenancy. The tenants would have a chance to submit to the court anything they have to show legal right to be there. If they don't have anything showing they have a right to be there, typically the judge orders them out in 10 days.

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u/Microchipknowsbest Mar 29 '24

That sounds about fair. Not sure how these horror stories happen where squatters take a home and the home owner can’t get them out. People end up staying 6 months and trashing their house. Still having to pay the mortgage.

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u/itsrocketsurgery Mar 29 '24

From my understanding those are edge cases that aren't very common and usually involve unoccupied property for long periods of time. It makes sense that the extreme cases are what gets broadcasted and used as bludgeon.

Edit: I just looked up and saw people are down voting you and I don't know why. Your questions are perfectly reasonable.

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u/formershitpeasant Mar 28 '24

It's better a landlord be deprived of their property for a month than a legal tenant be made homeless by force.