Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law on Wednesday, March 27, a bill that helps residents have squatters immediately evicted rather than only removed after a lengthy, likely expensive legal battle. The bill likely came in response to videos from around the nation, such as California and New York, showing the massive problems caused for homeowners by squatting and the legal protections given squatters.
As background, in many states squatters who claim to have some legal claim to the property, often through a fake lease, have legal protections that limit the ability of property owners to evict them. In New York, for example, the utilities cannot be shut off and the locks cannot be changed, among other things, if squatters claim to have legal rights to the property, and the only way to get them out is through a lengthy legal process.
Explaining the bill in a press conference, Gov. DeSantis said, “So we’re here today because you assume in America if you purchase a home and own a residence that that’s your residence, that if you happen to maybe split time in Orlando and Michigan, that if you go to Michigan over the summer, people aren’t going to be able to just move into your house and then claim squatter’s rights on your private residence.”
Continuing, he pointed to New York and California as being examples of states that side with law-breakers over law-abiding citizens, saying, “And yet, in places like New York and California, that’s exactly what’s happening in this country. Homes are being invaded, and those states and their laws are not siding with the homeowners, they’re siding with the squatters.”
He also pointed to a situation in NYC in which squatters murdered a property owner who confronted them, saying, “Just a few days ago, two squatters in New York City allegedly murdered the property owner when she confronted them for being in her apartment illegally.”
Building on his point, he noted that some illegal immigrants have even taken to social media apps like TikTok to teach other illegal immigrants how to take over the homes of Americans, saying, “In fact, we even have illegal aliens taking to social media, instructing other foreigners how to come into this country and commandeer property.”
Explaining that Florida would not be a state where such things are possible, Gov. DeSantis then said, “Well, today in the state of Florida, we say very simply what passes muster in New York and California is not passing muster here. You are not going to be able to commandeer somebody’s private property and expect to get away with it. We are, in the state of Florida, ending the squatter scam once and for all.”
Further, he noted how squatters take advantage of the law and cause homeowners massive amounts of expense, something that he thinks is unacceptable. He said, “What the squatters know is even when they’re in the wrong, it’s a massive process many times before they can be evicted. And a lot of times, the process is very expensive.”
So, he framed the new bill as helping homeowners fight back in a way that is not onerously expensive. He said, “And so we don’t want the law to have the thumb on the scale in favor of people that are violating the law. We want the law to have the thumb on the scale in favor of law abiding property owners. And that’s what you’re going to see here with this piece of legislation. What you can do now, if you’re the victim of squatting, you can simply fill out a form, give it to your local sheriff, and the sheriff is instructed to go and remove the people who are inhabiting your dwelling illegally. And that will happen very quickly.”
Watch DeSantis here:
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