R_Jackal posted...
Always wondered about the squatter problem, assumed it was just renting issues, but laws actually protected people who, without permission, just took up shop in someone's property? That's kinda nuts.
As someone who was homeless, I can understand desperately wanting a place to stay.. but that sure as hell isn't the way to go about it. Damn.
Generally the problem with squatters isn't that they can't be evicted. Generally the problem is that people will discover squatters and have to spend tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees spending months fighting them in courts all the meanwhile they continue to trash the home and pay no money. Then the people who get their homes back at the end are left with a ruined house and months of bills stacked up that are now their responsibility.
It can also be used as the basis for a scam. One of the recent stories somebody posted on ce had the guy who was squatting tell the owner that he had put a few thousand dollars of work into the home and that he would move out if she just gave him the money. So there's definitely a financial incentive to effectively hold people's property hostage knowing that they're two options are either pay you to leave or spend half a year forcing you out while you trash the place.