United States Why are "squatter's rights" a thing?

[Marduk]

Honestly, a working/middle-class family inheriting a rich uncle's house four states over rarely happens, and when it does, FAMILY tends to cause more issues than squatters do, when random family members come out of the woodwork and threaten to take the inheritor to court. Not to mention bamb suddenly hit with new property taxes, renting selling or even maintaing the property becomes next to impossible because you live four states over and can't affored to hire anyone to bassivally own it on your behalf.

Lordship isn't the moneymaker people think it is unless it's already your bread and butter which is why most landlords tend to be rich real-estate people. Squatters rights can be a problem especially for buyers but there is a myriad of bigger problems with how property works in the US.

It doesn't have to be a rich relative, in some places just simply any house that is livable and has no mortgages or stuff like that is something representing half a million dollars of value if not more.
Hence all the horror stories about squatters usually have that in the background.
Squatters doing their shit isn't the only problem, but they don't solve any, this is just an encouragement for the shady people to try fuck with the middle class, and with government going out of its way to side with the former in case of lefty cities.

Personally, I'm more concerned about taxes than I am with squatters right now. But then again I'm not part of the landowning class. i've only got one home and I don't leave it for a significant length of time. (A week at most) mortgages are killing my family more than squatters.

In libertarian circles ironically that's also brought up as an issue, if you have to keep paying for owning the land, do you really own it?
It's not a bad argument...
But as long as it's not applied, property taxes kill the squatter argument that property ownership shouldn't be "for nothing and in perpetuity", because it clearly isn't, try not paying land taxes and see how long you will keep it.

The squatter thing is just simply anther burden to be felt by small landowners, as in addition to financial and bureaucratic obligations set by the government (which at least have set amounts, schedules, and usually at least should be doable by correspondence) it effectively puts a need to provide at least minimal, occasional on-site physical guard on the property on top of that, and in case of more squatter friendly areas that's not going to be enough to get rid of the squatters, just enough to notice them before their theft of property gets rubberstamped by the law and you will need a pricey civil court case to actually get rid of them, forget about getting paid for any damages they do to the property too.

 

[stephen the barbarian]

how long before shoot and scoop becomes a viable option?

 

[KilroywasNOTHere]

It doesn't have to be a rich relative, in some places just simply any house that is livable and has no mortgages or stuff like that is something representing half a million dollars of value if not more.
Hence all the horror stories about squatters usually have that in the background.
Squatters doing their shit isn't the only problem, but they don't solve any, this is just an encouragement for the shady people to try fuck with the middle class, and with government going out of its way to side with the former in case of lefty cities.

In libertarian circles ironically that's also brought up as an issue, if you have to keep paying for owning the land, do you really own it?
It's not a bad argument...
But as long as it's not applied, property taxes kill the squatter argument that property ownership shouldn't be "for nothing and in perpetuity", because it clearly isn't, try not paying land taxes and see how long you will keep it.

The squatter thing is just simply anther burden to be felt by small landowners, as in addition to financial and bureaucratic obligations set by the government (which at least have set amounts, schedules, and usually at least should be doable by correspondence) it effectively puts a need to provide at least minimal, occasional on-site physical guard on the property on top of that, and in case of more squatter friendly areas that's not going to be enough to get rid of the squatters, just enough to notice them before their theft of property gets rubberstamped by the law and you will need a pricey civil court case to actually get rid of them, forget about getting paid for any damages they do to the property too.

You're not wrong but my point is I think this whole thing about Squatter's Rights is a distraction, The old political tatic of avert people eyes from a greater problem by pointing out a smaller problem.

The People: "Our taxes our through the roof, mortgages are almost impossible to pay and even if you can pay them the banks and government can still take your house and land due to not paying the yearly fees/taxes. I'm a serf of my own home.

Politician: *nervous sweating* I uh I...oh look guys Squatter's Rights!

 

[Zachowon]

Bill saying squatters should be charged with trespassing passes Ga. Senate, on to governor

The bill would charge squatters with trespassing and speed up the court process.

www.google.com

Some states are taking action in this.
Making it a crime so they can't go through civil court

 

[Robovski]

Idle curiosity, but what's to stop the property owner from tenting and fumigating? Doing required maintenance where they replace the windows and doors? All the shitty things real slumlords do to get out legitimate tenants?

 

[Simonbob]

Idle curiosity, but what's to stop the property owner from tenting and fumigating? Doing required maintenance where they replace the windows and doors? All the shitty things real slumlords do to get out legitimate tenants?

Usually?

They might not even know what's happening, and the moment they do, the cops are involved.

Trying that sort of stuff when the cops might just lock you up for it isn't a smart choice.


Note, real slumlords are the kinda people who never get this kind of problem, because they're always ready to screw over their tenants. Average guy doesn't know how to deal with it, that's why they call the cops.


It wouldn't be a problem if the cops weren't ready to screw over the owner.

 

[Blasterbot]

remember that the police are not always your friend and will enforce the will of their betters those who sign their checks on you. There are few laws that they will not lock you up at gun point over if that is what is needed to put food in their kids bellies.

 

[ThatZenoGuy]

remember that the police are not always your friend and will enforce the will of their betters those who sign their checks on you. There are few laws that they will not lock you up at gun point over if that is what is needed to put food in their kids bellies.

No different to the NKVD, Gestapo or any other historical enforcement organization.

 

[Simonbob]

No different to the NKVD, Gestapo or any other historical enforcement organization.

No, that's not right.

At the very least, there is both the very public nature of their job, added to the theoretical basis showing.

There are always going to be cops who think in terms of "Justice" when they graduate, but that doesn't mean they control much in the department. There's always going to be cops who'd prefer to arrest real criminals, murderers and rapists, rather than enforce bullshit.


Unfortuantely, they're also never likely to be in charge. A political animal will be.


There's a reason why a lot of cops quit during the COVID lockdowns.

 

[Zachowon]

It depends on if they are local PD or Sheriff.
Sheriff is voted, PD is not.
Simple as.
Even then, police still have a job.

The thing is the reason they can't deal woth squatters is if they have fake documentation, they are not a civil court and can not say if it is fake or real.
So they have to let you settle it in civil court.
If they are considered trespassing, which is what GA us making happen, then they are well within thier capability to do something.

Squatting effects everyone. So they will most likely be a lot more willing to help you over the squatter

 

[Blasterbot]

There's a reason why a lot of cops quit during the COVID lockdowns.

and now that those cops have quit who is left? the answer is those who want that check and can stomach being the boot on your neck if that is what it takes to keep their kids fed.

 

[ThatZenoGuy]

and now that those cops have quit who is left? the answer is those who want that check and can stomach being the boot on your neck if that is what it takes to keep their kids fed.

Not to mention outsourcing policework to other nations. When the truck rallies in Canada were occuring, people were quick to notice how many suspiciously Chinese enforcers were running about breaking skulls, only to disappear once the rallies were crushed.

 

[Cherico]

First thing

Squatters rights should never apply to people who are not US citizens.

And honestly I'm pretty sure one of the future things in populism will be a limitation that only US citizens can own land in the US. This is already done in mexico so its pretty much envitable.

 

[KilroywasNOTHere]

First thing

Squatters rights should never apply to people who are not US citizens.

And honestly I'm pretty sure one of the future things in populism will be a limitation that only US citizens can own land in the US. This is already done in mexico so its pretty much envitable.

Are we talking Born citizens only or do legal imigrints count. Frankly I'm ok with the later. The former opens the floodgates of "How far do we go back to decide if someone is a natural born citizen? do we go with "Born on American Soil" or do you have to trace it back to before the 19th century?"

 

[Blasterbot]

Are we talking Born citizens only or do legal imigrints count. Frankly I'm ok with the later. The former opens the floodgates of "How far do we go back to decide if someone is a natural born citizen? do we go with "Born on American Soil" or do you have to trace it back to before the 19th century?"

how about we at least start with nobody gets citizenship and we let them talk us down to ending anchor babies. we don't need to worry about black slaves not being citizens anymore so that portion of the amendment is moot.

 

[KilroywasNOTHere]

how about we at least start with nobody gets citizenship and we let them talk us down to ending anchor babies. we don't need to worry about black slaves not being citizens anymore so that portion of the amendment is moot.

The fact that you see politics as a haggle or a negotiation makes you more optimistic than me.

 

[Blasterbot]

The fact that you see politics as a haggle or a negotiation makes you more optimistic than me.

I don't believe it would work mind you. R congress critters showed their hand with the amnesty and other country's borders bill they tried to shove through. 80% foreign aid. 20% amnesty. 100% fuck the base is what you can expect from the establishment. Progs want open borders to destabilize the country and because PoCs good. so any actual negotiations conducted would look to end up somewhere between those 2 points. your call where on that spectrum you think the end point lands.

 

[LordsFire]

Are we talking Born citizens only or do legal imigrints count. Frankly I'm ok with the later. The former opens the floodgates of "How far do we go back to decide if someone is a natural born citizen? do we go with "Born on American Soil" or do you have to trace it back to before the 19th century?"

Given how much abuse their has been of the ability for foreign nationals to buy US land, I do expect some depreciation of this sort of thing in the future.

It's going to be messy if it happens though, because the immediate and easy workaround of 'corporation owns land, corporation is foreign-owned' is hard to close without also completely scuttling international investment, which has huge impacts on how businesses operate.

Some degree of limitation on such things though, such as foreign nationals and foreign-owned corporations can only own a single residential-zoned home in the US, might be practicable. Last I recall, it takes ~7 years to become a US citizen, so if you want multiple US residences, you can wait that long.

Not a be-all end-all solution, but one that would hopefully limit the issue, without doing more harm than good.


...And yes, if you're not a citizen, attempting to squat should be grounds for immediate deportation, especially if you're in a city with a decent homeless shelter.

 

[Scottty]

how long before shoot and scoop becomes a viable option?

I'd say once the police and so on become corrupt or laid-back enough to not consider a few members of the underclass going missing here or there to be something worth paying any attention to.

Say when they are openly and explicitly just there to protect the 1%, and treat everyone else as unimportant.

 

[49ersfootball]

Don't pretend that any power-that-is won't abuse their power to supress those who oppose and/or disagree with them.

My great-great-great grandparents left Japan in the 1850s because "being Catholic" was illegal.

FL Governor Ron DeSantis (R) signed legislation banning squatters.