The home foreclosure crisis has triggered a resurgence of an old problem: squatters. Defined as occupying a house or apartment without the legal right to do so, squatters may be renters who stay on after their lease ends, without paying rent. They may be homeowners who stay on after foreclosure proceedings have resulted in an order to vacate. Sometimes a bank or other mortgage holder lets them stay, believing it’s better to have the home occupied than vacant. Criminal authorities often hesitate to get involved in squatting claims, viewing them as civil matters — and the legalities of who has the right to occupy property and who is a criminal trespasser can be tricky.
In Florida, according to this Seattle Times report, Bank of America is now taking civil action to evict a group of squatters in a pricey mansion — 7,000 square feet, sold for 3.1 million in 2005 — who filed a claim of “adverse possession,” asserting that because they had been occupying the property for a certain length of time, they are now the legal owners. (In some states, a key factor is who is paying the property taxes — and I doubt it’s been the squatters!)
Some unscrupulous types even rent out homes they don’t own — often foreclosed properties — to unsuspecting tenants. Foul, yes — but fiction would be dull without the unscrupulous and the unsuspecting.
Consider the story opportunities: you got your banks, not always the best-loved of folks these days. Was the foreclosure righteous or fraudulent? Does it matter? You got your squatters. Good folks down on their luck? Some, sure. Others, as the adverse possession claims illustrate, opportunistic. You got your cops, stuck in the middle. The former owners. The neighbors. Physical tensions. Yelling, screaming. Paperwork. Street battles. Courtroom battles. Lifestyles of the strange and litigious.
Go for it.
Hi, Leslie–
Very interesting post–and a little scary, too. We moved to a new town last summer, finally gave up on selling our house in our old town, and just rented it to some people who seem very nice. Let’s hope they’re not potential squatters! Oh, well–if they are, at least I might get a story out of it.
Stories are everywhere! But I think the biggest risk is to lender-owned properties, whether banks or other institutions, b/c they are less able to keep an eye on places. Good luck with your rental!
Fascinating possibilities for plots, Leslie. Around here empty homes and some not empty are more likely to be a target for thieves who still copper pipes or wiring.
Copper theft — yes. Thanks for reminding us about that. It’s a serious problem.
Also the homeless and runaways. I know a young woman (as a juvenile, she ran away from an abusive father) who lived on the streets of an Orlando, FL suburb. Cops used to roust her from sleeping in public parks. Since the foreclosure crisis, she and her boyfriend break into vacant houses and live for weeks at a time. No electricity, but at least it’s a roof over their heads. If they get caught, they simply move to another vacant house. A sizeable homeless community does this and some communities are made up entirely of runaway teens.
Unfortunately, desperate kids often wind up as crime victims and/or turn to crime to survive, creating all-too-real conflict for fiction.
Deb, thanks for this sobering reminder.