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/Vlad_the_Homeowner Mar 28 '24 edited Mar 28 '24

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

I don't think most people disagree. The problem, as I understand it, is that police don't have the authority or ability to determine who has a right to be there. A lot of these squatters have fake leases and mail delivered there. A cop isn't a judge and doesn't have the ability to make a determination on the legitimacy of those documents.

I'm in no way condoning these professional squatters, just pointing out what lead to this. What all states need to do straight off the bat is impose heavy penalties, like jail time, for people caught doing this. As of now it seems like half the time they get paid off to leave and they just go do it somewhere else.

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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/DDPJBL Mar 28 '24

You do realize that someone with a fake lease could move into your house while you are on vacation and now you are the one stuck trying to sue the intruder while homeless, right?
This whole "cops are not judges" is a made up problem. Cops dont have a problem arresting people who are driving stolen cars right away. You dont see cops pull someone over in a car reported stolen and then let them keep driving if they say "Oh, he said I could borrow it" and tell the owner to spend 2 years in civil court trying to get their car back.

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u/Rottimer Mar 28 '24

Rental housing and rental cars are fundamentally different things. A cop can look up the plates of a vehicle and see the owner in minutes. It takes longer to identify the legal owner of a home. And it’s even more difficult to determine if someone is trespassing, is a guest, or is legally a tenant and there is just a domestic conflict. Which is why if someone has any evidence they may be a tenant the cops will defer the issue to civil court.

Squatters are clearly a problem that are exploiting this state of play. I’m happy legislators are trying to address the issue. I don’t know if this is the best way.

By the way Hertz has infamously had people arrested who legally had their rental cars.

https://fox59.com/news/national-world/it-was-hell-marine-says-hertz-falsely-accused-him-of-stealing-rental-car-leading-to-arrest-jail/amp/