You can hire me, and I would bring cockroaches and bed bugs and a random VERY LOUD beeping alarm that goes off from 1 minute to every couple hours but only for a couple seconds. At night they would keep getting woke up. Loud rock music and a bunch of yell swearing when playing my video games. .
Friend in Florida is a snow bird. Squatters moved into his winter home. The neighbors called to let him know. On the way from Michigan to Florida he turned up the wifi thermostat to 90 during a Florida summer.
This actually happened to a friend of mine, who just so happens to be a member of a 1% MC. He was told to eff off by the squatters when he confronted them by himself, so he came back 2 hours later with 50 bikers and they all walked in and literally threw the squatters out. There was no conflict, the squatters left in a real hurry, lol.
@@bigfoot14eee99 Who charges $500? That wouldn't cover the time wiping my shoes off... On a serious note, that wouldn't even cover 1 minute of fuel burn for the airplane I kind of want. That doesn't even cover the minimum liability insurance for a car (or some bikes), like I think you'll want to offer a bit more than 10 moderately nice shots of whiskey at a restaurant...
I had this happen to me at my rental. I was going through an eviction and the evicted renter moved out and told some dirt bag friends that the house was going to be vacant. The squatters made up a fake lease and said they had rented the place from the man who was being evicted. About 10 people moved into the place and started selling drugs out of the house. Talk about a nightmare. I have owned rentals for 40 years and never had this kind of thing happen. I got them out but it wasn't easy. I boarded up all the windows so they couldn't get back in turned off the water and took the breakers out of the electrical box. The worst 6 weeks of my life. I finally got the place rented out again but I am totally on guard for squatters now. It is a breakdown in society and the police were no help.
The problem is that the US is a third world country when it comes to identification. In a real country those people would be identified and taken into custody in hours, because you are the one that owns the house (or are on the actual lease).
I used to rent on a short-term basis to arriving military families who needed some time to shop for a house without the pressure of living in a motel room while doing so. I kept the utilities in my name so they didn't have to go through the hassle of deposits when having them turned on and then off again when they left a month or two later - this was greatly appreciated and worked fine for me too. I rented to a single woman when I was between military renters and she never paid the rent except for the security deposit of one month's rent. (I later learned she had done this numerous times in other cities). She thought she could get 4-6 months of free accommodations before I could manage to have her evicted but I turned off her water and electricity and she decided to leave then and there.
My dad turned off the power and water to a rental he had in calif when the tenants were 2 months behind and had no intention of paying. The sheriff knocked on our door that night and said “can’t do that as utilities are included in the rent, the utility service can cut off for non payment but not the land lord”. My dad was pissed but turned them back in. I’m some states tenants have more rights than the land lords (most states these days). The lesson I took from that and still adhere to to this day…. NEVER include utilities in the rent. But always pay for trash service.
That's what I was thinking-everything is in OUR name with ALL companies, so we can have OUR water and OUR power and OUR gas turned off in OUR home. Squatters WILL retaliate by bringing in barrels and barbeques though.
@@OpenCarryUSMC You got one up the scammers. For instance, he needed to draft and have an updated agreement to the lease that says that the tenants agree from a certain date that they will be responsible for the utilities going forward. Then you're dad could have showed that lease addendum to the sheriff when they showed up. Who's more believable there, someone who chooses not to pay rent any more or a landlord that has all of their paperwork in order and is polite to the sheriff?
@@OpenCarryUSMCLandlords are generally despised by the public, many of whom seem to believe that housing is a natural right and that charging rent is unjust. Rights of tenants must be enforced by law, but not at the expense of owners' rights
Yes. Police should investigate the legal documents (lease documents, etc) and if they are false, force them to leave, taking only their possessions without damaging the building.
in most countries they are. you can think a lawyer for all the crap we have to put up with. just think how much lawyers make off of squatters and homeowners.
I wonder what would happen if someone squatted at a police officers house while they were at work? Would they wait for the courts to resolve the matter?
I saw the original video of this, it made me think of a similar situation in NY a short while back where a guy bought a house with squatters in it and he and his two brothers showed up barged in and made themselves at home. The squatters called the police, the owner showed the police the deed as proof of ownership and the police told all involved to work it out in court. The three brothers took turns keeping guard as they disconnected the water, gas, electric , removing the appliances, the toilets, sinks, the front and rear doors, squatters called the police again and again and were told it was a civil matter. Then one of the squatters got violent and attacked one of the brothers with a broken bottle not realizing he was being recorded.the police show up and arrested the attacker and took him away and then the other squatters left in a bit of a hurry. When I think of this it brings back to mind what I heard as a teenager, that is " the best approach is the direct approach ".
In California I have a friend who broke a window in his own house (while squatters were there) and called the police of breaking and entering happening. The police saw the broken window evidence and arrested them (the squatters) without incident. The owner kept his ownership info on his cell to show the police just for this type of thing in case it happens.
So If I would say break into someones home, and they would catch me red handed, I would just say " I'm not a burglar, I'm a squatter" and the police would go away? I find this amazing.
Of course everything is civil matter now even murders. You don't want police to waste tax payer money on civil matter do you? They should waste it by sleeping drinking watching RU-vid on the job.
Why doesn't it work? You say that the furniture and clothes are yours. You show a "document" to the police that you rent this house. You become a squatter.
@@-fazik-3713 That's a different situation than you described in your first comment. representing yourself as a squatter to the police vs as a legitimate tenant. If you represent yourself as a squatter, then it's not a civil dispute.
@@jonny-b4954 title registration isn't performed immediately in personal transactions. Imagine buying a car and getting arrested on the way home with it.
@@jbc6980 I would insist on buying used cars outside of the DMV or its equivalent. Not for this reason, but for potential fraud/stolen car etc. But it would alleviate this potential risk if not outright negate it.
@@gcanada3005 Rent-seeking is a pervasive problem in economics. There are some plausible arguments that a home rental is not "rent-seeking" in the economic sense. These arguments... do not consistently apply to the reality we currently live in.
My favorite landlord story is one I heard when I worked at General Motors in Lansing. On the side I was a landlord and met another landlord at work. He had a couple college boys that would not move out when asked. A few of the guys we worked with were members of the local motorcycle club. These were not the Sunday ride after church guys, they were the scary kind. He paid them a case of beer and then they followed him to the rental house. When the kids answered his knock, he said he thought that maybe they didn't move out because they had no friends to help them and that being the nice man that he was, he brought his friends to help. They declined his help but moved out immediately. BTW, the motorcycle club guys were actually not bad people, they worked hard and did not bother anyone as far as I knew unless someone bothered them.
I've heard other stories about someone with a squatter problem enlisting the assistance of various groups of people you wouldn't want to make angry to help resolve the problem. Always entertaining.
This is kind of how I got a squatter out of my moms vacation house. In CA during the pandemic you could only evict people for criminal acts. I was able to work remotely during the pandemic so I was living at my moms small mountain cabin to save on rent. My mom says there is a "high school friend" and his teenage daughter who wants to live up a couple months to while looking for a place to buy. Well after the first 30 days go by he stops giving money for utilities and rent. I see what is happening in the following weeks so I start trying to make it super uncomfortable to live there. Finally one day a few weeks later I catch his daughter lighting stuff on fire on the balcony putting burns into the wood. I call the cops ASAP and she admitted it to the cop. I had my mom file a 3 day eviction for criminal activity and never saw from them again.
While I agree, I find it better to avoid legal trouble if possible. For example, after exercising my right to a second amendment solution to squatters, I’m deploying hydrogen peroxide and sulfuric acid solutions. I have no obligation to let cops investigate me or let a prosecutor prosecute me.
"Some things in life are worth getting in legal trouble for" This would doubtless be a very effective advertisement for a law firm, except that it is too honest. It's like a beer company saying "Drink our beer, it gets you drunk."
@@gossamer9966 Technically, thats how we obtained this land called America, actually, by coming here and squatting on it, so, by your standard we all are on our (native owned) land that was owned by my ancestors.
I took the doors and windows off of a house in mid winter for a "remodel" to get persons to leave once. They didn't want to stay there with snow blowing in the windows. Didn't even cause that much water damage in the process. totally worth it.
This reminds me of a crime story where a girl was kidnapped and taken to a house so the father called the police and they were too busy/taking too long so he called back and said "well, you're going to need to send an ambulance now because I'm going in there myself to get my daughter."
We had nearly the same situation at a friends house that she rented in the City of Samammish, WA state. Now, just saying THAT tells people this is going to be a tough one because the WA state legislature has passed numerous laws protecting squatters. And it wasn't just one family squatting, it was a large group of people. So... we hatched a plan. The members of the community spent several weeks keeping logs of who came in and out (obviously, lots of drugs shown rom these logs). When the logs of three different people showed no one home, we moved in. Literally. With a REAL lease. We had people set up to keep the people away while we cleared the house out, and moved some stuff in. But, fortunately, we did not have to stop traffic for some tree felling (we had that planned) or stage a car accident (we had that planned, also). But we DID have a boat load of folks around the house when the squatters started showing back up. We knew the squatters were armed... but they did not know who in the crowd was armed........ And they went away. Put as much as they could into their cars and left. We tossed what they did not take. Amazon, FEDEX, and UPS did not want the remains of the packaging we found, or the contents (porch pirates) so we had a garage sale of the items to help raise money to repair the house. Bottom line, we squatted on the squatters. But make sure you have good security if you do this. The most dangerous person in the world is the person that has nothing left to lose. And these types of folks may be on their last mental legs, so to speak. It is REALLY dangerous if you do this alone.
Good advice on the caution. Even though you are legally and morally right, if things take a bad turn, you may find yourself the winner of a very bitter victory.
I'm delighted to learn that you have back handedly suggested (without suggesting the legality, or lack of, thereof) that hunting implements are useful. You go Steve!
Except the people squatting in most urban cities are the types who will have more “hunting implements,” and probably more people, and looser moral compass as to using such implements. This probably isn’t worth dying over.
@@hautehussey That's an easy problem to solve. Just bring more. Oh, and maybe if it's not worth dying over, they shouldn't be stealing someone else's place to live? Just a thought.
@@hautehussey if tey kill you they getcharged with murder you kill them as the owner are proteting your property therefore sefl defense. Excpet in california where crimals have all the rights
@@boldCactuslad Yes. More hunting implements always guarantees victory when approaching an occupied dwelling with an unknown number of people with an unknown number of hunting implements at 4 AM. Great advice.
Or a judge, politician, or local business leader. Like I said elsewhere, the only time I ever saw a story where the police quickly evict a squatter was when it happened in a neighborhood of multi-million dollar homes. Try squatting in the home of a Sheriff or any other law enforcement officer and the squatters next place of residence will probably be the morgue.
@@DennisMoore664 If it's the owner's current place of residence, in a state with the Castle Doctrine, then the owner can just kill the "home invaders" outright and explain himself to a judge later. Squatters don't generally try to take someone's current residence; they occupy unused property.
@@Tzizenorec Sometimes, but it's more complicated than that in most cases. First, even in states with Castle Doctrine _and_ Stand Your Ground laws there are still variation about those laws from state to state, and sometimes at the local level, that take into account a variety of factors. After that, a judge or prosecutor might not be all that dismissive about a civilian homeowner taking it upon themself to execute an unarmed squatter. Especially if the squatter is a juvenile or didn't have a history of violence or any major felonies in their record or there was a cell phone recording or a 911 call from them showing the person wasn't armed or being aggressive. And we're mostly talking about the more unusual instances when someone comes home from a vacation or other time away and finds someone in their home. If it happened in an unoccupied rental, vacation, or inherited piece of property you'd probably have to rely on any local Stand Your Ground laws for legal defense if you're going to go in and kill the "intruder". And if I learned anything from cop shows, make sure you bring a clean drop weapon and only put their prints on it. Or just be rich and/or powerful which is the main point the OP and I are making.
6:22 - "What are the police going to do, go look up the record of the registered deeds?" YES! THEY SHOULD BE DOING THEIR F__KING JOBS!!! Not passing it up to the courts to deal with in 12-18 months.
Exactly. Nearly every county in the USA has online property records lookup where the cops can look up owner’s name in seconds. They just choose not to.
Why is it I can sit here on my couch and immediately say go the the county Register of Deeds and determine ownership but police don't immediately think of that? Is it because because police are not well informed people? Shouldn't we be hiring smarter cops?
I’ve got a related story on this one. Back in the late 1970s My Aunt owned a house they had made into 3 separate apartments (not in the best part of town) and they lived like an hour away. A squatter family moved into one of the vacant apartments before they could re-rent it. My Aunt and cousin waited for them to leave the apartment one day for work went over there with a pick up truck and proceeded to remove the door from the apartment, put it in the pick-up truck and drove off!! The family decided to leave within 24 hours.
Happened when my father passed away. The squatter was a methhead that didnt have any work schedule that would allow me to get into the house. It was a very tough situation paying for the eviction. Then watching the man load up 2 trailers worth of my families possessions. Antiques keepsakes and heirlooms. It was devistating and the financial impact of loosing the antique furniture that I was going to use to offset the back property tax, funeral, lawyer fees. Truly horrible situation.
@@jonathanmay7508 no. My father let him take residence in a spare bedroom. It turned everything into a tenant-landlord situation... It all turned into a civil court case. Where if I did anything uncivilized, or untoward the tenants rights given by the state, I would lose my case and face financial/criminal penalty. I wouldnt wish it upon anyone.
@@veno8mm Eh? A tenant's rights don't extend to being able to take furniture when they get evicted, unless they actually own the furniture. Why would you simply watch someone steal your stuff from you?
@@veno8mm If you had a tenant, then you had a tenant's agreement, and it will have clearly stated if the rental came furnished or unfurnished. So, if you had no proof it was yours, then you had no tenants agreement, which means you had no tenant, which leads to the question "what the fuck are you talking about?"
The police were negligent for not considering this trespassing and breaking and entering by the squatters. They should have been removed by them immediately.
The police exist to protect and preserve the power of The State, and nothing more. They are not there to protect your life, your liberty or your property. Go look up Castle Rock v Gonzalas & DeShaney vs. Winnebago
I had a friend who had a house in a beautiful neighborhood just outside of DC that she decided to rent out instead of sell when she was moving to a new, smaller home. New tenants signed a lease and then never paid a single month’s rent. It took her three years, thousands in legal fees, and then when they did leave, on their way out they trashed the home in retaliation. It was more than a hundred thousand dollars in damages. Piss and feces on the carpets and floors, every wall had filth and holes punched in it. She has to take them to court AGAIN. It’s been a nightmare for her, but the law offers almost no protections.
Sounds like the hunting implement would've been a much cheaper solution. I've heard the "consumables" have gone up in price lately, but not _that_ much in the grand scheme of things
In 2006 My sister had a rental in Phoenix. People moved in paid rent for three months. Then quit paying. Went through the courts, and got the eviction notice. The cops would not kick them out. We then created a lease with my name on it. I pulled up into the front yard with my Ford F 150 and turned lose my Rottweiler. I then began removing doors, toilets, disabling the A/C. They were gone on the third day.
I saw the video of this. It's absolutely brilliant! Since police don't care about squatters, why not? There's no downside. The one thing I find troubling about this is that our property is not protected officially by police. Also, it's way way to easy to run scams on real estate property. There needs to be some better security revolving around real estate ownership and rights.
What you people don't seem to understand is that the police will never act in these circumstance. Let me pose a scenario to you. Someone calls the police claiming someone is squatting on their property and they can prove it, they present a valid Deed to the property to the police. So the police go confront the "squatter". But, uh oh, the "squatter" also has a valid Deed to the property and says they don't know this other party but that they live here. What the are the police going to do? Nothing there is no way to resolve this other than in court the police cannot possibly verify the veracity of these claims. Now say the same scenario but the "squatter" doesn't have a deed on property but says it is sitting in a trust/safe deposit/POA. What the are the police going to do? Nothing there is no way to resolve this other than in court. Now say the same scenario but the caller doesn't have any of their paperwork . What the are the police going to do? Nothing there is no way to resolve this other than in court. I could go on forever, all these situations are all equally impossible to resolve. There are entire companies whose sole purpose is to do deed checks on properties, entire companies, and you expect the police to be able to make a split second decision to decide who is lying in this situation? No that is absurd, and you should do more due diligence to understand what you are talking about.
@@ocoolwow What I hear reading this is "It's too hard to enforce the law. Police can't figure out who owns property but we should trust them implicitly to make good decisions" Most cities spend around 30% of their budget on Law Enforcement services, you best believe I expect them to do more than pass the buck because investigating a serious property crime is "Too hard"
@@ocoolwow I would nitpick that instead of "valid deed" it should be "what appears to be a valid deed", as there can't be two actual valid deeds that disagree with each other. But you are right in that the validity of the claims or documents is not something that the police can determine, especially not in a short frame of time, so often times unless one party admits wrongdoing, they can't and shouldn't do anything. There are, after all, stories where they did do something and it turned out to be wrong. The real problem is that eviction usually takes too long and require warning. For active dispute like this, there should be a fast tracked process where the only requirement before action is the verification of the disputed fact. A week, maybe two, is what it should be. Currently, it takes months if not longer. But that's not a problem with the police but the laws that protect squatters(even after they are ousted as such) and the court that process the cases.
Some years ago I was paid to stay at a couples house while they were trying to rent out. So squatters didn't get in. We did a notarized agreement that I would stay till the place was legally rented and would leave the day before the tenants moved in. Thier realtor would call me before she came to show the place so I had time to pack my backpacks and leave the house temporarily before they got there.
@@support2587 search 'property guardians' - this is totally already a thing in the UK. Except the guardians pay a super-cheap rent, not the other way around. I don't know if this part would fly here, but they're explicitly not tenants so tenancy laws don't apply...
how could this not be a crime???? it is utterly disgusting. that someone can move in your home and get away with it!!!!!!!! they should be immediately removed and jailed!!
Sometimes the squatters think they legitimately rented the house, but like Steve said usually far enough below market value that it should be obvious it's not legit. Unfortunately some people are stupid enough to believe it and stupidity isn't illegal.
This is what I've said about squatters from the get-go. It's your property and you have every right under the law to enter your own property. So I'd be busting down the door and the trespassers can either leave at gunpoint or leave in a bodybag and I really don't care which, but they WILL be leaving. Period.
I had a squatter once. I hired a lawyer who did nothing. So, out of frustration I thought, “What’s keeping them here”? And I decided it was their stuff. So I rented the biggest uhaul they had, showed up with some friends, and moved their stuff into the uhaul. When they arrived, I told them I’d pay for a storage unit-just tell me which one to bring it to. They hastily chose one and it was over.
@@kameljoe21 then they sue you if something happens to any of their stuff. That’s the problem with this case. You’re opening yourself up to a LOT of liability. Putting into storage is the correct way to do things. Documenting everything and accruing storage charges. Eventually you can apply the charges towards selling their stuff and pocketing the money.
@@Nope_handlesaretrash then they sue you and you have to buy them all new things. That’s the problem with the original advice this video was giving. And the major downside to this bluff.
I was going to leave a comment saying I would do exactly as you described but I figured you would have some lawyer response about how unethical and dangerous it was. You made me proud today Mr. Lehto
I stumbled upon a scam in Tennessee while looking for apartment room to rent but the homeowner would never talk with me over the phone and only asked for money so I ended up going to the house in person to speak with them turned out there was a cop living there and I advised him his homes being listed online for rent just FYI. Scammer sent me a picture “of her ID” and everything.
They are Pro’s. Squatters broke into a house I bought and was fixing up with a box of locks under their arm. Didn’t matter I had video of them breaking in with tools and locks, when the police showed up they help up a key and said “I have a key, I’m a res-I-dent!” Lease? My stuff? ALL IRRELEVANT OR THEIRS, the police took a step back, told me it’s a civil issue, and left.
Maybe tell the police you saw them selling drugs to children from the residence? ah, that would get your house blown to splinters by SWAT because they want to play with all of their military-grade toys...
9:13 I think I might have had a small part in that disclaimer. That being said. I would never go into a house I owned occupied by squatters at 4AM in ANY circumstances. I may end up DEAD. And I'm pretty sure that if I'm dead, that's an irreversible condition no matter how the issue plays out in the legal arena.
If I was reasonably sure they were asleep, I think I could take up multiple positions within my own home where I would be very unlikely to be harmed unless the defenders also had intimate knowledge of the home. Depends on how long they've been staying there, but I think if it were my home taken I'd have it resolved within 24 hours. I have too many friends and acquaintances who would be ALL too willing to help me out with something like that if I offered them a beer. Hell, most of them would do it for free, either out of sympathy or because they'd get excited at the prospect of raiding my home and legally being allowed to... remove... the intruders.
A couple of years ago, my brother called my attention to a newspaper article about a house 3 blocks from my apartment in the Bronx. Some squatters had moved into a vacant house and managed to get the electricity turned on and in their name. When the owner discovered the squatters, the police said it was a civil matter because they had a utility in their name. The only (well not only) problem was that all evictions had been halted because of Covid. To make matters worse, the house was supposedly being used for prostitution and to sell drugs. The house is currently vacant. I don't know if the owner was finally able to get the squatters evicted or the NYPD arrested them for drugs or prostitution, but the house is currently a burned out shell. Maybe the owner set a fire to get them out or the squatters started a fire for spite or a fire actually started by accident. However it happened, it is one way to get rid of squatters.
They got house fires in "empty" houses constantly in nearby city here. They are either arsonists or squatters trying to stay warm but the result is a blighted neighborhood of burnt out houses. Guess an empty lot is better than what they had in Bronx.
@@tomsherwood4650 Actually, there are some very nice neighborhoods in the Bronx. I think the neighborhood I live in now is nice. It' primarily apartment buildings rather than private homes. I am not sure what is going to replace that burned out house though. I'd say there is a good chance it will be an apartment building.
My brother in law has a two family house and one of the tenants was a section 8 tenant. They were ok for a year, but then started having problems and then stopped paying rent. He tried to get them evicted but they protested it and were granted the right to stay there by a judge. They then changed the name on the gas and electric to him and began running the stove and heat 24/7 and every appliance on. He tried to complain about the utilities and the judge says he can’t have it turned off… so he was stuck with these people for two years without paying a dime and costing him money. He finally appealed it up the ladder and eventually the sheriff came with moving vans and a bunch of guys to pull everything out and change the doors and locks. A real Pacific Heights type nightmare
@@jackfoxx6351 look up Virginia house sold with squatter. IIRC Steve covered this story. I won't ruin the story for you but it will sort of answer your question.
FYI, in some states (California, cough cough) turning off utilities, even for squatters, is considered an illegal eviction and you can be penalized for it.
Yes. It's "illegal". But sometimes an electrical meter get damaged, a wrench finds its way to the wrong gas or water line, etc. The world is an imperfect place.
@@FC-qe1wl True, but that usually takes many months of non-payment. Utilities have legal restrictions just how quickly they are allowed to turn of service. In some colder states, power may not be turned off in the winter at all. It is a nice protection for someone who is a week late paying their electric bill, but not helpful for the home owner in this scenario.
My opinion of Steve just went up a few notches. In the Michigan self-defense law, a person can not claim they were acting in self-defense if they are committing a crime and are in a place they are not legally allowed to be. To me, squatting is breaking and entering. If you have some friends that have concealed carry permits, invite them all over to your house for a barbecue, and all show up at once. Oh My! We entered the house, and to our shock and awe, we found there were strangers in there. From there, either things go amicably, or they escalate rapidly. 5 squatters vs. 20 armed American citizens exercising their constitutional rights. Squatters' choice.
Speaking in defense of possible accidental squatters.... Mom and I had to move less than a year ago. This was when rental and real estate prices were completely ridiculous due to a lot of landlords evicting people who hadn't paid during the pandemic raising prices to make up for it. Our landlord saw the green and gave us the requisite 30 day notice to vacate. (Note: We'd not gotten behind on rent. Heck, we'd only been late with rent twice in nine years and both times by less than a week.) He just wanted to sell while the prices were good. With so little time, we scrambled to find a place. Since we hadn't looked at a new place in so long, the prices seemed ridiculously high. A couple times, we found a place that seemed reasonably priced, but was owned by somebody from out of town. We'd call the number on craigslist, go to the house with a lockbox code we were given to check it out, etc. However, we'd frequently see rental signs at the house with different phone numbers or websites. I'd call the number or go to the website, only to find a different and higher price listed. As you can probably guess, the first ads we saw were scams in which the scammer got the code from the company by pretending to be a legitimate renter, then use it to scam real renters by taking a "deposit and first months rent" (for a property they don't actually own). Bam! The person is an (unintended) squatter. We got lucky because there were some obvious signs (literally since I'm referring to the yard signs), but I think mom would have gotten taken by one of them if she were on her own. For these cases, I think there needs to be some sort of consequences to craigslist and similar sites for hosting the scam ads. They need to figure out a way to require the people posting the ads to prove they own the property in the first place.
When I was looking for my current place, I saw a bunch of scams. Fortunately we have some renter protection, I believe the landlord must give a month for every year the tenant has occupied the place.
@@5000rgb wish we had that long where I live. Instead of the crappy 30 day notice, we would have had enough time to actually get things in order to actually buy a house like we wanted.
@@AustynSN 30 days after 9 years is lowdown. I honestly would have considered squatting there. I'm kidding about the squatting but I would have considered forcing him to go through eviction just to buy more time. I guess you got through it okay. It's pretty scary needing to find a place and people waste your time with scams. If you lost money to them you'd really be in trouble.
I saw this man's original video explaining what he did. The squatter was a corrections officer. It was great. And found the $100 rather quickly. Loved this episode.
@@UncleKennysPlace : Should, but I doubt that the boss is gonna have the time, or any interest, in getting involved in the guard's "private affairs". It would probably take giving a member of the mainstream media the name of the corrections officer, and perhaps even a bit more readily available information about the officer to get the boss interested/involved.
@@UncleKennysPlace I think this is the real story. This happened to be someone with something to lose. Be kind of surprised if they still have a job now that the story blew up.
I wonder whatever happened to "burglary" and theft. They broke into the house ! As someone who has owner rentals for over 35 years, this crap amazes and pisses me off. You don't pay rent, you have NO rights in my house !
Hi Steve, first time here. Someone commented on my squatter video to tell me about this. It’s Flash, A couple details were miss printed by NY Post. I’m a Southern California Man and the house was on the market to sell. If they didn’t leave the plan was similar to what you said you would do because as you said no jurisdiction to remove me either. Thank you for your video. Appreciate it.
I see this happening ALL THE TIME now. The system is broken. I think maybe I'll go into business occupying vacant homes for people for a fee to keep squatters away. Yeah, they'll pay me for squatting, but I'll leave when they ask. LOL
You would need a team for sure. Lets just assume it cost you 500 per man and a team of 5 people including yourself. You would charge around 5k for the to remove them. This would be about average of a couple months of rent for most areas? You need one man who runs a security van. This van has the body cameras on everyone. Another man would need to be your lawyer and research person who will verify that the owner is the owner and the house and everything else is theirs. Regardless if you have worked for him before. You would contact a neighbor who is either friendly with the owner to ask permission to set up security camera to watch the house for a couple of days. This will give you an idea as to if an when there is movement. Then you strke at dawn after they leave, hauling everything out and setting up a security system, installing signs. Every case can be sorted before hand. In the cases of where someone is always there you just move the team in and remove the doors from the house. This is the first step. Then you shut off the water and gas which can be done at street side. Electric is a whole other story and depends on how the home is set up. If you do a couple a week in a very large city you could make money. i am sure there are places where there are thousands of squatters. The other thing to do is to photograph these people and build a squatters website. Check with your lawyer on what is legal or not. Send this website to every proprety management company in your area and all around the country. It should spread like wild fire. Allow user submission that need to be verified. Make sure the data base and story is 100% searchable as these people are pros and repeater offenders. and
In the UK that's a thing. It's called being a property guardian. You get low rent and an agreement that they can kick you out with 1 weeks notice. There are even guardian agencies pairing owners with guardians.
One of my sons was a professional squatter for about a year, maybe 10 years ago. He laughed because he lived in 6 or 7 different houses and once he forgot where he was living. He had a bed, couch and TV, with a truck full of tools. Moving was easy. Actually, he is a remodeler, and was serially fixing up houses for a family we know. They were concerned about squatters even then and he stayed in a house until he finished it and showed it to prospective renters. He stayed with me or a brother if there was a gap until another house was vacant. One was a retail business property and he kept getting people asking what he would be selling and when was the Grand Opening !
When I was a young man, (60s, 70s) I had a small construction company. I did a lot of work for a (slum) landlord. I did a lot remodel and upkeep for him. Almost every month he'd call and tell me the doors needed removed and refinished on a property. I'd go with my small crew and remove the doors and take them to my shop. This was his way of collecting delinquent rent or make a quick eviction, worked every time.
My mother is retired, has 2 homes (winter and summer). She has someone look over each home once a week when she is gone. We have talked about what to do if squatters move in. Oddly enough, our plan matched what Steve said was not legal advice. Wouldn't be pretty, and I'm sure we'd have to clean the carpets after.
the funny thing is the guy who did this put the video on you tube and it came acroos my video feed a few weeks ago and i watched it at that time. a true handyman can be quite resourceful and applaud him getting the squatters out faster than any court ever would or could...
I love this guy whoever he is. All the best to him for getting his home back. This is on par with the guy who was fighting his ex wife for custody of his children and the was being treated unfairly as the mother has preference form the courts. So his brilliance was on full display when he filed legal paperwork to IDENTIFY as the mother rather the father. As the children's mother he was more fit than the biological mother and he got custody as a straight man.
If a squatter tried squatting in the home of a prosecutor, police officer, judge, or congress member they would likely be arrested immediately and probably be investigated to determine if they targeted the individual. Facing charges of judicial intimidation in connection with squatting in a judges home for example could lead to years in prison.
A few years ago a farmer in England was sitting in his home, with a loaded shotgun when a group of youths turned up to break in and rob him. When the first robber popped his head through the window, the farmer blew it off. The farmer got jailed for 3 years for murder.
He killed a kid without giving him a warning, pre-meditated as he sat there with a loaded gun instead of calling the police. Of course he went to jail. A simple ‘hey get out’ probably would have sent them packing.
I watched that video. He went to the police department with his documents, talked to the chief, told them what he was doing. He also asked the guys across the street if they needed some furniture. He told them if the lady didn't return or more out, they could have it. He gave the lady til midnight to be out. It took a little longer, I think, around 2 am. He was funny 😊.
Every video I listen to makes me realize more that Steve and I always seem to agree on things. 😂 I would do the exact same thing Steve said he would do. It's not that I value my things more than your life. It's that you value my things more than your life.
Your statement is a perfect example of why Steve shouldn't have said that. If you make someone fear for their life by displaying a firearm when they haven't made you fear for your own first, you are committing aggravated assault which caries a minimum prison sentence in most states as well as you permanently losing your right to possess firearms. I wish we were allowed to do it... but we can't.
@@captainobvious8665 I agree with you! I live in Massachusetts!! If you brandish a weapon in this state and the police are involved you are most likely going to jail!! Frustrating situation!!
@@captainobvious8665 first of all, occupying and taking my home is just as bad as fearing for my life. They are threatening the culmination of my life's hard work. Every dollar I've put into my house and my things is representative of every hour I've worked to earn money to buy those things or every hour I've worked to create and maintain those things. Steve saying this isn't going to make anyone do anything they weren't already going to do. I live in Florida where we have very broad stand your ground and castle doctrine. Floridians have absolutely no duty to retreat while inside their home or car. The difference between Steve and I is that I wouldn't have to go purchase anything as I always carry a firearm with me. Always. Yes, there are some states that are ridiculous with their firearm laws and they end up punishing the victim. That's a cost-benefit calculation everyone has to make. I'm no psuedo-rambo type and I don't want to hurt anyone. Hell, I don't ever even want to pull my firearm out in a threatening manner. However, I refuse to be made a victim.
@@captainobvious8665 I can promise you that I am well-versed in the laws of the state I live in. I can also tell you the state I'm in is very firearm friendly. More so than even Texas or Florida. I'm not so stupid as to go around bragging that I would kill people over crap. But like Steve said, I also believe a man not only has a right, he has a duty to stand up to tyranny, evil, and deadly threats. Only an imbecile would stand still and let another man take his life without fighting back.
I had a similar issue on my dad's property where two ladies were living in his barn. I went through the courts and had the paperwork to get them evicted. The local police still would not move these people along. Once my dad passed away I had the electricity shut off and they finally moved out. But not before they left a greater than $1,000 electric bill. They were leaving the back doors wide open while running electric heaters.
Calling the cops is a good idea. It makes IDing their remains for coroner easier. I would not have been so generous. They wouldn't have gotten their stuff back. Being generous is allowing them to live. I think most of the time, the cops just don't want to deal with it. It is quite easy to prove with a tax/utility bill. Great advice Steve. I saw this story & the video. I figured this was going to be an Everybody submission..... BTW, I keep a digital copy of my deed, tax bill & last utility bills on my phone. Thanks!
This is my fav video so far Steve. I was thinking to myself through the first half "Go sit in your house with a gun, and defend your legally owned property. No reason to file for eviction." I was so sure your method as a lawyer would be to opt for the civil suit/eviction/long road. I was very happy to hear our thoughts aligned. My only concern is that if you do end up having to shoot someone, and you contacted the police in advance where they refused to help you, it would appear to be premeditation of some kind.
PS: This thing happened to my parents' vacation home in Massachusetts. Fortunately it was minimally furnished, and not their primary home. This approach could possibly work in MA if you live there, but the difficulty of procuring a hunting implement in MA is probably a longer process than eviction.
One of the things Steve did not mention is that the guy installed security camera ring door bells all over the place and hired people to move their stuff out. It took them till like a couple hours after the 12 midnight time to get out. The security cameras and him being there clearly made them move out.
I watched the video this guy made a few days earlier. My favorite part was when he offered the squatters furniture to someone if they removed it from his property. I laughed. Squatters took over my friend’s parents property after her father died. I had to help her clean after the squatters threw her family’s belongings out of the windows. We bagged up all of the squatters belongings ant took them to the dump and unbagged them., before we returned to try to recover her family’s pictures and treasures from rotting on the lawn where they had lain for the month before she had been notified. She then changed the locks that had been broken. We had the water turned off and because it is easy for anyone to get water turned on, we disconnected the water to faucets and toilets. This house was in the country so it was hard to be notified about squaters. It was a nightmare.
In the UK a friend who is an ex para but is in a wheel chair most of the time came home to find burglars in his flat, he was on 2 walking sticks that day and laid about them until they surrendered, then he called the police. The burglars complained that they were trapped in the flat and couldn't leave and it was unfair that they should be beaten by a disabled man and then arrested, because of his military training my friend went to prison and the burglars went free.
We are in the middle of a family squatting situation right now! My husband's mother is 92 with dementia. He has DPA. We need to sell her home to pay for her care but her daughter moved into the home and won't leave. A hired realtor discovered her living there when we tried to list. But now we are trying to evict. The sherif was called. A report filed. We filed an eviction notice. She was given 30 days and she did not leave. So we went to the judge and got a hearing. She showed up but still lost and was given 7 days to get out before we could get a rit. But she also had 5 days to appeal and request a new heating! So now we have to go through another hearing! At this point, what happens next? We are not able to be there physically. Our Mom needs the money for her care. It's her property and we have legal Durable Power of Attorney. The daughter is claiming we forged everything but we did not! We even paid a lawyer to do it all, with Mom signing it all with an attorney. Seriously, is there an end to this???
Dealing with this myself. Had a deal fall through but granted the buyer early possession. They rented it out before we terminated the purchase contract and now they say they won't leave and their lawyer says they have a valid lease even though the person they leased from never was an owner. Court in 2 weeks should be fun
Here in Honolulu, we just had a landlord murdered while contacting the tenant in regard to evection. The tenant's boyfriend drug him outside to the front of the building. He then grabbed the landlord by the neck and repeatedly slammed his head against the sidewalk until he was dead. The tenant's boyfriend was arrested for 2nd degree murder and is being held on $1million bail. RIP Alvin Matsumoto.
This is why all leases and rental contracts should have to be filed with the county. Then it becomes super easy to see if there is a rental agreement. The police are absurd when they let people lie about contracts to avoid arrest.
Steve, I hink I love you. Lol! And you need to understand what a large mental amd emotional barrier I had to overcome to say that to someone I already knew is a lawyer. You have officially overcome my anti-attorney preconceived notions. But only for yourself. Great video!
Me and my friend used the hunting implement method to remove squatters from his home, there wasn’t any issues they left quickly and quietly. He inherited his parents home after they died and they moved in quickly after and destroyed the place, we didn’t even find out they were there until police were going to fine him because they broke out the windows. We tried the right way and the city made it impossible like usual. Oddly enough peoples minds are changed when they actually face the owner in the house ready to defend it. Sad how laws aren’t there to protect the good guys
Interesting how police would spend hours with misdemeanor infractions but won’t take a few hours investigating the theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars in property.
I saw a separate video where a woman who recently purchased a home discovered squatters. Her initial interaction with the squatters went badly, and she ended up being arrested. She ended up dealing with a guy who worked for one of the local news station. She gave him rights to enter the home and stay there. He had a key. He shows up, and things go south quick. Turns out the squatter was also stealing electricity and I'm assuming water and sewer. And one of the things the squatter was using to show "legal" occupancy was the notice from US Mail that she changed her address to the location she was squatting at. Well, because the electricity was being stolen, the police got involved. They looked up the squatter and discovered a warrant for some unrelated charge and was taken into custody plus potentially looking at a charge for the utility theft. At this point the guy hasn't even entered the house yet to make a nuance of himself. But I'll say this. Because the squatter was female and the person trying to reside there was male, he was putting himself in a very bad situation. All she had to do was cry assault and he would be going to jail on the claim alone. When women are squatting in your home, it is going to take another woman to get her out.
Yep. And not to mention what to do with all of their stuff that you’re all of a sudden responsible for with a lot of these “solutions”. What about that ratty “family heirloom” thrift store painting that they somehow managed to get an appraisal for $10,000?
this is why motorcycle gangs such as the hell's angels are a necessary evil. "you guys want to make $5K? I need someone removed from my house" Half now, half when the job is done.
@@kenc2257 you never know. I’ve seen people go to jail for pretty much nothing. Did you see the video where someone went to jail for drinking in their own home?
I totally agree with what you said. Where I live actual squatting (as opposed to having a rental agreement with the owner but then not paying the rent) in residential property became a criminal offence in 2012 subject to imprisonment for up to 6 months. Police here have the power to enter a property in order to arrest someone for squatting.
He was quite generous in allowing the squatters to take their furniture from the house. Once he took legal possession of the house, he could have also kept whatever items the squatters had "abandoned" there.
I love these stories! Yes that is one thing I would do. Also if after calling the police and they refuse to leave I would switch to my plan B. I would wait for them to leave the house (provided there are not too many of them maybe 1 or 2), and then change all of the locks. Whatever items they left in the house would be thrown out into the street. Plan C would be to hire a few big bouncers and literally kick them out on the street. Hiring the bouncers would still be a lot cheaper than an attorney! I would definitely record everything and have a witness too. Would make for a nice YT or Tictok clip! BTW when I was looking for an apartment in NYC I came across quite a few scammers who would list apartments of people who are not even renting (unlicensed agents). They would even get the details wrong, and just use nice pics of the apartment from old listings. This scam is more common than you think!
> I would wait for them to leave In most cases, these squatters don't have jobs, and they don't leave. Many are on disability, and once they change their disability checks to your address, they can claim residency. > hire a few big bouncers and literally kick them out on the street. You, as the owner and LL could be sued for an illegal eviction, and would spend 10s of thousands of dollars in a court settlement. Once they show the judge the (fake) lease, and some mail with their name and your address on it, the judge would agree they are tenants. Illegal or not, the law still protects them. Your only choice is to write the bouncers a lease for the property, and have them squat over the existing squatters. Once the illegal squatters leave, you secretly pay the bouncers.
I watched that video, and he didn't really squat on the squatters. He got his mother to sign some sort of agreement that made him responsible for the house, then he turned up, waited until the squatters had all left for work/school in the morning, then he put up security cameras and when they got home he told them to get their stuff out by the end of the day or he was going to take it all out and give it away. The "Squatters" claimed they were just using the house to store their belongings, which was a load of old Dog Water. But they knew they were in the wrong cos they didn't exactly put up a struggle when he told them to leave. I don't think he even changed the locks and he didn't stay around to ensure they didn't just move straight back in. It was most odd and I didn't really see any squatting by him?
He didn't need to stay around because cameras. He's a handyman I'm sure he changed the locks once they got their stuff out and installed an alarm system. It was smart of him to give the squatters an "exit strategy", you don't want to back anyone into a corner.
Our real estate system in the US needs a major overhaul if we want to stop these scams from happening. Every time a property changes to a new owner, it should be updated in a database, and every time someone signs a valid lease, that should be registered before they are permitted to move in. Then, police could easily check if the person is a tenant or a trespasser. That'd put a stop to the online rental scams real fast.
I saw that guys original video. He was smart (and actually compassionate) and got the job done. I suspect his video and yours will help more than one person going forward.
Steve, this might be a good one for you to talk through: I had something similar to this happen to me. I bought a duplex in St Paul MN and a squatter broke in a few days after I bought it. There were clear signs of the door being forced open but the squatter lied or came up with some sob story to the police (something about her brother supposedly owning the property a long time ago). The police told us it was now a civil matter because the squatter had established domicile by setting up some blankets on the floor in the bedroom. This squatter then went on a meth fueled HGTV inspired makeover of the house in which she absolutely gutted the building down to the studs and threw all the wreckage and debris into the yard. Apparently, unbeknownst to me, the house's name was 'Angela' and it needed an exorcism. She had no idea what she was doing and structurally compromised the building by cutting through joists and removing structural walls. We called the police several times for the obvious vandalism and structural damage she was doing, but they refused to intervene and insisted it was all a civil matter. One of the most infuriating things was that the neighbors then called the city to complain about the wreckage in the yard. The city then began issuing huge fines for unpermitted work, an unsecured structure (she had a fetish for removing the garage door despite us replacing it several times), and garbage as by this time she had literally torn the front porch off the house (not the roof though, she let that hang down precariously). We tried to clean stuff up and meet the city demands while we were working on eviction, but she would chase us and contractors off with a Pitbull and/or by brandishing knives. Again we called the police, and again they said all of her vandalism was a civil matter and since this was now her domicile she was free to 'defend it' however she pleased. Our pleas to the city fell on deaf ears. The message was clear, we were 'filthy landlords, this is your problem, and you need to pay!'. Never mind that this wasn't a tenant and we had never intended to rent the property. In fact, the city doubled down on our 'willful negligence' and condemned the building. This was towards the tail end of the pandemic and eviction moratoriums were in place, so many attorney's we called wouldn't even touch the case. We did finally hire an attorney specializing in evictions. Turns out that the only reason we would be able to entertain getting an eviction at all was because she was causing obvious and severe damage to the property and threatening violence (two exceptions the MN governor had allowed to the moratorium on evictions). Even so, the process still took many months to complete. During this time, the attorney advised us that: - The law was in her (the squatters) favor. The entire system was and is set up to protect this type of abuse. If we didn't follow the rules carefully we could dramatically increase the size of our problem. The attorney also said that this squatter would have no shortage of free attorney representation to go after us for any small infraction of the rules. - Under no circumstances were we allowed to *order* her to leave. You could ask, you could bribe, but you couldn't demand, threaten, or physically force her to leave. We did offer $1,000 cash for her to leave, but she threated to stab us. If we forced the eviction ourselves without a court order she could sue us and would almost certainly win. - Under no circumstances could we cut the power, water, or gas. If one of these services were broken for any reason, we were required to repair it promptly. It was our responsibility as unwilling landlords of our new 'tenant' to keep the heat on. If we cut or failed to maintain services, she could sue us and she would almost certainly win. - She had the privilege of doing whatever she pleased to the property and its contents without limit. Any and all damages would need to be settled in a separate legal action subject to civil, not criminal, charges. Since the squatter, or as the attorney labeled it 'unlawful occupant', had no assets we'd be on the hook. Meanwhile, even after eviction we'd be responsible for ensuring her things were carefully stored and available to her (if memory is correct 30 days). If we didn't take care of her things according to legal requirements, she could sue us and she would almost certainly win. It took 4 months and nearly $4,000 in legal expenses and another $4,000 in city fines to obtain a writ of recovery and get her out. Then it was on to the insurance claim. This was initially approved for a small amount, but since the house had been condemned it was going to cost $400,000 to restore the house to livable condition and regain a certificate of occupancy. Once the insurance company saw the bigger bills come through they denied the claim due to 'hard use by a tenant' rather than vandalism. It took another 14 months and $11,000 in attorneys fees to get the insurance company to settle on an amount that at least let us fire sale the property and escape total bankruptcy. Fun times! The moral of the story is that if somebody breaks into your home while you are away it is no longer your home. They can do *whatever they please* without limit. If you try to intercede without an court order and without the sheriff acting on your behalf you will incur serious civil and potentially criminal liability. Your insurance may or may not cover the damages. Steve, I'm not sure that the story you told above or the advice you gave will work if the squatter has any knowledge of their rights. The only reason this situation doesn't get abused more is ignorance.
Well...this is certainly a sad and unfortunate story. I don't understand why this person wasn't arrested after the documented drug use, and the documented violence toward you.
@@danielhawkins6425 Oh I have one. Honestly, if it had been my personal residence I'm not sure I'd have been able to restrain myself here. As it was the only way one could deal with it was to find the situation so outlandishly absurd as to laugh at it. The behavior of the squatter, the neighbors, and the city was so outlandishly strange as to make for great entertainment if you could separate yourself from how much time and money it was costing. My story above only outlines about 1/100th of the strange things that happened; every week was like something out of a headline in The Onion.
About 9 yrs ago some squatters tried to live in my aunts rental, i found out through my mom and went over and knocked on the front door and beat the dudes ass in front of his wife. They moved out the next morning. I probably wouldnt do that today though.
Speaking of self help, I used to work at a Bronx pizzeria while finishing college. Neighborhood kids would sometimes give us trouble because they wanted to hang out without buying anything, so we had to throw them out on the regular. The neighborhood was mostly Irish and Italian and all of the kids that hung out on that corner were white, except one. One of those kids was caught vandalizing my car. Care to guess which one it was? I'll explain why his race was relevant in a moment. I called the police and the kid was arrested. Of course, thereafter he was not allowed in the store. The pizzeria was bought by new owners who were very much of the "self help" persuasion. When the kids congregated in front of the store he went out with a gun to "ask" them to leave. When I pointed out the kid that vandalized my car, the new owner said to me "but you kicked his ass, right?" I was like no, I called the police. I was a white guy in my 20s who had been accepted to law school and they thought I should go kick the ass of a 16-year-old Black kid? The one Black kid that hung out in an almost all white neighborhood? That couldn't end badly, could it? It's like we lived in 2 different worlds. Actually the thing that made me really angry about the vandalism wasn't the damage to my car. The week before the vandalism, the then owner (an old Italian man) had complained about the fact that the white kids were letting the Black kid hang out with them. I told him that I didn't particularly like the kids that hung out on the corner, but at least they weren't racist. Less than a week later, I had that old man in my face saying "See I told you so." Now that made me furious, but not quite furious enough to make me beat up the kid or the old man. Three years later, I had experience with not self defense, but defense of another. It was only a week after I graduated from law school and I was at a beach in CT with my girlfriend. I was actually doing reading for my bar exam. My girlfriend got into an argument with a woman about her loud music. It got heated and I got between them, put my hands on my girlfriends shoulder and said "let's just go." One last round of mutual insults and the other woman swung over my shoulder and punched my girlfriend in the eye. I turned and pushed the woman back to keep her from hitting my girlfriend again. We left and we called the police. The woman was given a desk appearance ticket for assault because my girlfriend had a black eye but then the cop said I was being given a desk appearance ticket for breach of the peace. Breach of the peace for basically breaking up a fight. I had to go to court for that charge 3 times. The state's attorney refused to drop the charges even though I had clearly been acting in reasonable defense of another. He wanted my girlfriend to agree to drop the charges against the woman so that it could all go away. In the end the the woman apologized through a mediator and the charges were Noll Prossed against both of us. It was all over then for the woman that gave my girlfriend a black eye. But I had technically entered a diversionary program and that meant I had a bunch of extra hoops to jump through before I could be admitted to the Bar. Again different worlds.
