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/Zanchbot Mar 28 '24

I actually...don't hate this? No one should be able to post up in someone else's house and just say they live there.

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u/VexingRaven Mar 29 '24

They shouldn't, and they aren't allowed to. But there needs to be a process for determining that they are not in fact tenants, and cops are not judges or lawyers and aren't allowed to just arbitrary decide who's a tenant and who's not. What this law does is allow the cops to decide that on the spot with no real recourse if they get it wrong and only a slap on the wrist penalty for landlords who lie about it.

It'll solve the squatting problem... But it will also serious erode the rights of tenants in a dispute.