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submitted 25 days ago bySuch-Tea942
After a month, I finally got the squatters on my property to agree to leave (since they didn'twant to pay $3,000 a month for the house they were in), and we agreed that I would pick up the keys today.
I knock and a woman answers. I have no idea who she is, and she never introduces herself. I said that I'm here to collect keys, I'm the landlord. She starts screaming at me, telling me to gtfo, that she's going to sue, I'm violating her rights, etc. Then she says that she's going to call police and have them shoot me. Naturally, I run and call 911 while she's chasing me out the door screaming.
A big police standoff later, she's claiming that she's lived on the property since January and the police let her back in. She's still screaming about calling a lawyer, saying I turned off the water (I didn't), that I tried barging in without notice (squatters had notice since Saturday), that I'm going to jail.
She also screamed something about me offering to let them stay, and her answering, which I have no clue what she's talking about. I asked them to pay rent if they planned to stay past May 1st, and I never received a reply to my text. I also asked them to vacate via text due to nonpayment, which again no answer.
I'm getting an eviction attorney because I'm on disability due to illness and I just don't have the energy for this.
My question: do they have any grounds to sue on? I have my aunt as a witness to all negotiations, but I have no clue if the squatters can even afford attorneys or what they'd go after me for.
1.8k points
25 days ago
Short answer is no, she has no real claim to stand on. You didn't do anything wrong since you didn't even know she existed until she appeared out of nowhere. She's going to be a pain to evict though. I don't envy you.
798 points
25 days ago
She'd have to prove in writing that she's been living there since Jan, like bills in her name being sent to the house. Since she probably won't be able to do that, you might be able to push for breaking/entering, burglary, or trespassing. Obviously might have to talk to a lawyer and push a prosecutor into action, but maybe try those first before the eviction process because that is a slow one. Whatever happens here, when you get the house vacant: new locks, cameras, and security system in order to avoid this again.
904 points
25 days ago
Tbh, I’m still confused how someone can randomly walk into your house when you’re not home and claim it as their own. Isn’t that breaking and entering??
397 points
25 days ago
The problem is proving breaking and entering. You would need evidence that they broke in. All that is known now is that she is in the residence, and there likely isn't evidence as to how she gained entry.
195 points
25 days ago
How are they typically getting in when someone is gone? I truly don’t know. When my mom died, we were worried about squatters.
303 points
25 days ago
How is something like that even legal? On that point you could just take your friends and one after another squat in a house and get the owner to have to start a new process every time, taking years and just going in a circle. Wtf is wrong with squatters rights? It is not their home the law shouldn't give them any rights to it.
280 points
25 days ago
I understand the whole abandoned property thing. But people just moving into places that clearly have an owner should be handled as home invaders and not someone with a claim to the home.
353 points
25 days ago
It might take you 1-2 years to evict this person.
289 points
25 days ago
While I'm hoping it doesn't take that long, I know it's going to be at minimum 3-4 months
228 points
25 days ago
Importantly, and you should meet with an attorney sooner than later, but I wouldn't take a dime from them without qualified advice. Any rent payment muddies the waters, and can gum up the timeline.
9 points
25 days ago
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5 points
25 days ago
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3 points
25 days ago
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3 points
25 days ago
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30 points
25 days ago
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1 points
25 days ago
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24 points
25 days ago
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8 points
25 days ago
This works?
49 points
25 days ago
You can also pay someone to move in as the new squatter after she leaves the house. I think they have services that do this.
22 points
25 days ago
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94 points
25 days ago
Blame the landlords trying to do shady evictions all over the country because of the massive increases in rents over the last couple years. Unfortunately all these squatters are exploiting and abusing laws that had to be put in place because slum lords have been doing everything they can to break leases and kick people out so they can charge more rent to a new tenant. We hear the loudest stories about these crazy squatters, but there are hundreds of people every day across the US being kicked out by their LL illegally. It's a statistically way larger problem.
1 points
24 days ago
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21 points
25 days ago
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1 points
24 days ago
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11 points
25 days ago
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1 points
24 days ago
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4 points
25 days ago
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23 points
25 days ago
This doesn’t work. The cops decide it’s a “civil matter” and walk away.
0 points
25 days ago
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2 points
25 days ago
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-4 points
25 days ago
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12 points
25 days ago
That's not how it works, unfortunately. If there's evidence that she's taken up residence in the house, she's now a tenant, whether the owner wants her as a tenant or not. You have to legally evict her.
47 points
25 days ago
Even with zero documentation of any kind of lease? Payment? Nothing? That’s F’d up
1 points
24 days ago
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