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| How Squatters Take Possession Of Foreclosure Properties |
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| Foreclosures: Squatters Rejoice In New Found Homes The foreclosure mess we have found ourselves in, has opened new opportunities for squatters. They simply move in to a vacant house. It's better than sleeping under a bridge or in doorways. Many renters and homeless families now have a house to call home. There are thousands of properties to choose from. When the robo-signing and foreclosure fraud investigations have been concluded, there will be thousands more coming to the housing market. How did this all start? We can look back years ago to the Homestead Act to find some basis in law for squatting. President Lincoln signed the act into law in May 1862. The law basically said that if you find a piece of land owned by the Federal Government, you fill out an application, you "improve the land" and then you file for a deed. You had to live on the land for five years. Remember we were still in a predominant agriculture economy so it was backbreaking work. "Improving the land" was clearing the land, planting a crop and harvesting the crop. There were several changes to the law which was abolished in 1976. Alaska discontinued the law in 1986. The main change was the increased acreage. It went from 160 acres when the law was passed, to 640 acres when the law was terminated. . Modern day squatters are looking for houses that they can "improve", stay in the house for a set number of years, then file for the deed. With the damage done to the houses by vandals and criminal activities, improving the property means fixing the fence, cutting the grass, repairing broken windows and doors. This is nothing compared to farming 160 acres like our forefathers. Common law provides for a person to obtain land through use. For example, your neighbor put a driveway between the two houses so that he can easily get to the rear of his property. In doing so he takes a strip of your property six feet wide. If you do nothing, your neighbor could end up owning that part of your property. In theory, you didn't challenge your neighbor with a lawsuit, therefore you abandoned the rights to your property. This is the foundation of adverse possession. But there is more to adverse possession than meets the eye. 1. Some states require you to pay taxes. 2. The "act' must be in the open. Anyone who wants to see what is happening can do so. 3. You must improve the property. 4. The property must be exclusive to you. 5. You must live in the house continuously for a period of time determined by the state. One of the areas that makes squatting on foreclosure properties attractive is that it falls under civil law not criminal. Therefore in many instances the police is not involved. The second area is eviction. The rightful homeowner has to go through a formal eviction to get rid of any squatters, and this could be expensive. Finally, I would like to mention that squatting is illegal. The homeowners can charge you with trespassing. |
| Squatters Next Door: Leeches Or Saviors To The Neighborhood The housing crisis has brought out the best and the worse of American ingenuity and creativity. We have seen thousands of mortgage relief scams where companies promise to save your house from foreclosure. We have seen hundreds of community non-profits like NACA, that are brokering deals between the banks and homeowners. Now, we see squatters trying to claim abandoned houses. On the surface it seems like a great idea. You need a house for you and your family, including the pets. You find a house. It's abandoned...windows are broken, doors are smashed, the grass is two feet high, the water is cut off, the electricity is shut off, and the roof needs some work. You are up for the challenge and you move in. You fix and repair and paint the house. You even pay the property taxes, and have the utilities connected. The neighbors are happy. They can see some hope of re-vitalization returning to their street. Where half the houses were once vacant, now there are squatters working on three or four houses. The city is happy because there is revenue from property taxes. Furthermore, crime is down in this area, resulting is less work for the EMS, the police and the fire department. For many people and government agencies a squatter is a savior. However, many opponents still see squatters as leeches who want something for nothing. These opponents of squatters would prefer to have the squatters charged with trespassing and evicted. If we go this route it allows the houses to be vandalized and deteriorate. Houses on the same street and in the nearby vicinities will see their values plummet. In Florida, squatters are utilizing an 1869 statute that says if a person takes a property and the owner does not claim the property in seven years, the squatter gets to keep the property. It seems that real estate wheeling and dealing flourishes in Florida. Mark Guerette, the owner of Save Florida Homes Inc., has taken the squatting game to a new level. He has taken possession of 20 houses using the adverse possession argument. These houses he has rented at around $289 a month each. In return the sub-squatters (tenants) fix and maintain the properties. I would like to mention that squatting is illegal. Mr. Guerette has been charged with fraud and if convicted can spend about 15 years in prison. Mr. Guerette, in his defense, has pointed out that the houses he selected had the large orange sticker plastered across the door. These stickers are generally placed there by the city and they indicated that the property was a "public nuisance". It should also be noted that Mr. Guerrette notified the owners of the properties of his intentions. Nineteen of the owners and their banks did not respond. Opponents of squatters are of the opinion that if they win in court it would be expensive for them. They also feel that the activity of renting houses that are not yours could open the floodgates to shady real estate scams. Furthermore, additional damage will be done to an already fragile housing market. As an outside observer, with no axe to grind, I feel that the bigger issue is how to get rid of the tenants. An easy answer is, you keep them if the house is in livable condition. Give them a proper, legal lease and let them redirect the rent to you. If they were paying $289 a month, that's more than you were getting before. prev>>Aftermath Of Foreclosures: Taxes next>>Banks To Buy Back Bad Loans |
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| Squatters Move In The housing crisis has created more problems for law enforcement. Squatters are moving into vacant homes. Some squatters were homeless and living under bridges, in doorways or in shelters. Now they have found temporary housing. A more serious problem is the criminal that rents a vacant house to an unsuspecting family. When the police show up to evict the family, the family produces a lease agreement. As tenants the family has rights. The police has to do a thorough investigation before anyone can be evicted. By this time the crook is long gone. Watch the slideshow. |
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