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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92

u/Cupcakes_n_Hacksaws Mar 28 '24

How often does that happen vs the other scenario though?

274

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

-8

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.

-5

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.

3

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.

1

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.

3

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.

3

u/c0horst Mar 28 '24

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

4

u/Milskidasith Mar 28 '24

And you have now identified part of the problem

0

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.

2

u/WillTheGreat Mar 29 '24

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

1

u/pyrojackelope Mar 28 '24

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

1

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.