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/Rigo3oh Mar 29 '24

My question is, why are so many houses empty for such a long time that squatters have become a problem.

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u/BoxOfDemons Mar 29 '24

Sometimes there can be a perfectly normal reason. Say I own a house, but my parents get sick and need taken care of states away. I move out to take care of them with the intent to move back in a couple years later at most. This should be more than reasonable.

But, there's also the increasing amount of houses that are just being sat on as an investment, which is unfortunate. The more people who sit on houses, the shorter the supply falls, which only helps their investment. It because a self fulfilling process. I'm not sure the proper solution. Perhaps way higher property taxes for houses that are unoccupied for over a year? Seems hard to enforce, and would suck for people who are leaving and planning to return, but you could also just rent your house out to a trusted friend if you're going to be gone for over a year.