Squatters

[fatjay]

What squatters? They were dead when I got here.

Squatters made up a pretty name for themselves. They are not squatters, they are home invaders. They have invaded your home. Your sanctuary.

There is no excuse to tolerate any form of home invasion.

 

[Suburban Plowboy]

DeSantis is fantastic. He has gone after squatters pretty well.

 

[MAX-24-Dean]

Alls well that ended well.
After reading your post, I would have brought the deed to the house and property to prove ownership in case I needed the sheriff.
Maybe bringing the sheriff with you so the squatters could have been prosecuted?
Depending on the state I would have come armed.

All property deeds are a click away, at least in Washington State. All online.

 

[ultrarunner]

That's how it should be, but it has become sophisticated. People sometimes think they have a valid contract. Imagine your 2nd place is 'rented' by someone claiming to be you. The squatters have a 'lease'. Or the squatters just invent that scenario for legal cover. Like Ultra said, LEOs treat it as a civil matter and stay out of it.

Some states are tightening their laws to prevent this stuff.

A good friend bough a condo in Vegas… they like to go to shows and have family in the area…

One month they open their utility bill and see a spike and wonder what’s going on.

They arrive and find a young family in the unit all settled in… they we’re in shock when my friend said he is the owner.

Cutting to the chase the renters were verified innocent. They responded to an ad, had the ad and paid for credit check and proof of rent and deposit payment…

Produced a rental agreement and the police said it would not be the first time.

My friend actually let them stay and they have been excellent… making the best of a bad situation with 2 victims.

The criminals long gone with rent and 2 month security and credit check money.

Home spotless, husband works and wife stay at home with newborn…

They offered to leave but said they would be pressed to afford a repeat all the costs just paid.

 

[1 Old Man]

I have no tolerance for a thief (and a squatter is a thief).
Ultrarunner - your friend did a nice thing letting those young
folks stay. They tried to do the right thing. Had proof. He was
gracious and let them stay. No telling how much the couple
appreciated his understanding.

 

[Jstpssng]

I have no tolerance for a thief (and a squatter is a thief).
Ultrarunner - your friend did a nice thing letting those young
folks stay. They tried to do the right thing. Had proof. He was
gracious and let them stay. No telling how much the couple
appreciated his understanding.

They were as much a victim as him.

 

[tacticalturnip]

Yes that's certainly not squatting but fraud, and something becoming more common.

It's quite unnerving.

 

[Torvy]

Yes that's certainly not squatting but fraud, and something becoming more common.

It's quite unnerving.

Unfortunately for the property owners, many areas treat this as squatting. That means court and eviction processes. If the squatters are victims, they are usually SOL.

The tricky part is that you rarely know if the squatter is really a victim of fraud or if they produced the documents to cover their own theft.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

Unfortunately for the property owners, many areas treat this as squatting. That means court and eviction processes. If the squatters are victims, they are usually SOL.

The tricky part is that you rarely know if the squatter is really a victim of fraud or if they produced the documents to cover their own theft.

Yeah, I supposed a semi-sophisticated and savagely devious fraudster could easily fake this type of scenario. Have the paperwork ready for when the property owner gets there. The only thing is that most humans are not as nice as this friend and would probably kick them out anyways. But maybe using this con as a cover would make it harder to kick them out. And soften or eliminate the legal repercussions of squatting.

 

[Torvy]

Yeah, I supposed a semi-sophisticated and savagely devious fraudster could easily fake this type of scenario. Have the paperwork ready for when the property owner gets there. The only thing is that most humans are not as nice as this friend and would probably kick them out anyways. But maybe using this con as a cover would make it harder to kick them out. And soften or eliminate the legal repercussions of squatting.

I've read news articles that this has happened.

Agreed, few are willing to take the risk his friend took.

Unfortunately, the cops ignore this stuff as civil in many cases. When they do open a case, they rarely catch the perps.

Scammers are using real apartments and genuine agents' identities to con would-be renters

Fraudsters are using real apartment listings and stolen agents’ identities on social media to scam prospective renters into paying fake fees.

www.nbcnews.com

House Squatting: 10 Ways You Can Unknowingly Become A Victim

Think squatting only happens in abandoned houses? Think again! Here are surprising ways you could become a victim of house squatting.

www.everybodylovesyourmoney.com

 

[tradosaurus]

What squatters? They were dead when I got here.

Squatters made up a pretty name for themselves. They are not squatters, they are home invaders. They have invaded your home. Your sanctuary.

There is no excuse to tolerate any form of home invasion.

Yeah, no. Not worth the headache of potentially going to trial for manslaughter unless justified.
Call law enforcement if they refused to leave but defend yourself if necessary with force.

 

[ponytug]

I did read of a funny/effective method. A relative of the owner moved in with a lease agreement from the owner, and changed the locks. Squatters came to the house and squawked. The LEO showed up at the squatters behest, looked at the lease, said the relative had possession, with a valid lease, and that the squatters needed to pick up their stuff and leave. Supposedly, squatter vs squatter makes the legal framework easier...

@ultrarunner you seem to be the right guy for the job. It seems to me that you have a lot more tolerance for friction than I do. Good luck in keeping your place safe. FWIW: the Starlinks pull around 35W absent snow.

All the best, Peter

 

[MossRoad]

I did read of a funny/effective method. A relative of the owner moved in with a lease agreement from the owner, and changed the locks. Squatters came to the house and squawked. The LEO showed up at the squatters behest, looked at the lease, said the relative had possession, with a valid lease, and that the squatters needed to pick up their stuff and leave. Supposedly, squatter vs squatter makes the legal framework easier...

@ultrarunner you seem to be the right guy for the job. It seems to me that you have a lot more tolerance for friction than I do. Good luck in keeping your place safe. FWIW: the Starlinks pull around 35W absent snow.

All the best, Peter

Look up The Squatter Hunter on youtube. His mom had squatters and couldn't get them out. So he had her write a lease and rent the house to him. That gave him legal right to be in the house. He moved in, set up cameras, etc... told them he had contractors coming to remodel and they had to get their stuff out by that evening or he'd put it out on the driveway.

He did such a good job of it, that people started calling him and now it's a business for him.

 

[JRH02]

No, mostly because no wifi or cell service… thought about a dummy cam mounted high and obvious.

This thread went to the moon and back in record time. It seems to be relevant to a lot of people. We also live in WA - south central. And its the same here as in zero cell service and off grid. I was going to recommend a few WiFi cameras to Starlink but others have keyed in on that already.

We are here full time and communications is critical for anything from normal research and news down to emergency services. Access is 4wd all year around via ancient logging trail(s), certainly no gov't services and no neighbors. FYI, Starlink is EXCELLENT for WiFi calls. Seems you're going to have to do something similar to our uses/example sooner or later anyway.

BTW, we just received a promotion from Starlink for a free MINI for $5 per month on standby (low bandwidth). We got it primarily as a backup unit in case our main unit bites the dust which happened last month to a three+ year old Gen2. It was disaster to get resolved with no alternative communications onless we drive 20 miles.

I wish you well with finding an resolution for the future AND to make your life a little safer and easy.

 

[ultrarunner]

I did read of a funny/effective method. A relative of the owner moved in with a lease agreement from the owner, and changed the locks. Squatters came to the house and squawked. The LEO showed up at the squatters behest, looked at the lease, said the relative had possession, with a valid lease, and that the squatters needed to pick up their stuff and leave. Supposedly, squatter vs squatter makes the legal framework easier...

@ultrarunner you seem to be the right guy for the job. It seems to me that you have a lot more tolerance for friction than I do. Good luck in keeping your place safe. FWIW: the Starlinks pull around 35W absent snow.

All the best, Peter

Part is from years of managing residential rentals in Oakland CA where my father preached something like deescalate and don’t give the other guy a reason… there is always tomorrow…

I’ve seen some horrible local road rage incidents and evictions where the house had every window busted out or all the copper removed after.

I try to be pragmatic and just lay out the facts and I follow through when I have offered be out by the weekend and I will give you the retainer fee I would pay the lawyer…

This was a little different because I had no idea of who I was dealing with… I think just approaching and saying sorry I’m late set the tone…

 

[HawkinsHollow]

Are you now back home or still up there? How did you leave things? Sorry if you mentioned that already but I don't recall you saying. What's the plan from here on out?

 

[EddieWalker]

Seems to me that you have two options. Find a renter to stay in the house or sell it. How long until it happens again? Will you be this lucky the next time? I don't know how, but they have a way of knowing what houses are empty, and now that it's happened once, it's just a matter of time until it happens again.

 

[ultrarunner]

Are you now back home or still up there? How did you leave things? Sorry if you mentioned that already but I don't recall you saying. What's the plan from here on out?

Just up for 3 nights…

Property is secure and neighbor that alerted me now has a key and will check gate padlock.

Also set up gardening service for the interim.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

Seems to me that you have two options. Find a renter to stay in the house or sell it. How long until it happens again? Will you be this lucky the next time? I don't know how, but they have a way of knowing what houses are empty, and now that it's happened once, it's just a matter of time until it happens again.

Unfortunately I think Eddie is right. And at 15 hours that is not an easy solution if/when it happens again.

 

[ultrarunner]

The plan is to leave California and retire there… not sure if this will still be the case as my California property tax is a bargain compared to my WA property tax…

In fact it is not unusual for WA neighbors to sell upon retirement and the kids are gone.