Posted on 03/22/2021 7:04:34 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
A nightmare facing a couple who purchased a home for cash perfectly illustrates why having the government over-involved in the rental market is a disaster even for people who never meant to lease their property but are plagued by a squatter. A couple who bought a house in good faith, now find themselves mired in California’s labyrinthine tenants’ laws, exacerbated by the new COVID rules.
Riverside is a large suburban area located about 50 miles east of downtown Los Angeles – although it’s still considered part of the Greater Los Angeles area. Tracie and Myles Albert, a young couple in Riverside, found what they thought was the perfect home: a four-bedroom house that they could buy quickly, for cash.
On January 31, 2020, the Alberts scraped together $560,000 in cash and gained title to the property. They have yet to move in.
Despite having pocketed $560,000 dollars and given up title, the original owner refuses to leave. Even under normal circumstances, this would be a problem for the new homeowners because California landlord-tenant laws are so hostile to the landlord. While the former owner isn’t technically a tenant – because there is no lease, no landlord-tenant relationship, and he owes no rent – it’s notoriously difficult to oust even squatters from properties in California.
Unfortunately for the Alberts, they have something worse to contend with than ordinary California law. They’re also fighting the new COVID rules:
[Chris] Taylor [the Alberts’ realtor] says, “It’s genuinely unfathomable to me that we live in a state where something like this is even possible. They closed escrow on this home January 31, 2020.” The Alberts and Taylor have contacted authorities and tried to get the seller evicted but because of the pandemic, they’ve gotten nowhere.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
Just last week, American Thinker published Anony Mee’s essay about Ilhan Omar’s draft bill, H.R. 1847, which is meant to throw landlords to the wolves, at which point the government will essentially take over rental property in America. As the Albert’s nightmare shows, once you have leftists in charge, anyone who is occupying a property, whether they’re renting or squatting, is treated as a tenant. The California model will become the national system if Omar’s bill becomes law.
And if you’re a tenant and think, “Well, this might be good for me,” disabuse yourself of that notion. Two things happen when the government takes control of rental properties through overwhelmingly pro-tenant laws. First, the amount of available housing stock shrinks because there is no incentive for anyone to become a landlord.
Second, those properties that do remain on the market are invariably in horrific condition. This is because (a) there’s heavy competition for the few available properties so there’s no incentive for landlords to improve the property and (b) because landlords are subject to rent control and may find it almost impossible to evict people for non-payment, they don’t have funds for property improvements.
It gets worse when the government is the landlord. Just think of every horrible housing project or Section H community built in America in the 1960s and 1970s. Every one of them became a crime-ridden hellhole.
No matter where you live, even if your representative is a Republican, you must speak up about H.R. 1847, to make very sure it doesn’t pass. Remember: Republicans tend to be squishes and their leftist colleagues can bully them into voting for stupid things. You need to get there first.
Did they ever vote for a democrat? If so, who cares? I hope they lose everything and are imprisoned by the government they voted for.
If not, they’ve my sincere sympathy.
Government has not been the friend of Commiefornians for decades. Does that stop us from electing more and more Commies? Nope.
If .gov wants to emulate Cuba, then I say go right on ahead and do it.
I doubt our buildings hold up any better.
Seriesly, dude? Are you new to Commiefornia?
RE: Does that stop us from electing more and more Commies? Nope.
There are more tenants anywhere than landlords. I am sure most landlords do not vote Commie, but they are overwhelmed by the many tenants who want to live free ( as in no need to pay ).
Welcome to California...Hell on Earth
“...On January 31, 2020, the Alberts scraped together $560,000 in cash...”
“Scraped together?” My heart bleeds.. I’m trying to scrape together $560!
While the Alberts may not be able to evict the former owner, is there anything in the law that says that they cannot move in themselves? Just move in with 100 of their closest friends and see how long the former owner wants to stay. Also sue him for breach of contract.
Stupid people, they found out what other people have known for decades
“...On January 31, 2020, the Alberts scraped together $560,000 in cash...”
I noticed that as well. Who can scrape up that kind of money, Where did they find it? Under the cushions on the couch.
I saw that, too, and wondered “WTH?”
That suggests that they struck pay dirt at Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple or some other money-making machine. You don’t “scrape together” more than a half-mil in cash otherwise.
And why in the world would they NOT take advantage of these historically low mortgage interest rates and keep their cash for other investments and emergencies?
Seems to me the solution for the Alberts is to move in the house & claim squatter’s rights for themselves, then make staying there miserable for the previous (squatting) owner.
I often find $100,000 stuck under the table in McDonald’s. Get lucky a few times and you can buy a house in California...but you can never move in.
This is why you write in the contract $1,000 a day for failure to release at close.
Maybe they got Jeff Bezos’ used sofa? Might be that kind of change in the cushions
I read this sunday, after five minutes of thought, I think the best approach would be to track down your local Hells Angels Club and try to make them a deal. Rent them the House for 3 months No Charge and here is $5 Grand for your help. and and tell them to move right in.
Democrat Marxists taking private property for the state, it's what they do.
I also doubt Californians voted these people in.
The other thing dems do, is steal elections.
Wouldn’t that be theft? And, isn’t theft criminal? These people paid $560,000 for a product, and the person who has the product won’t deliver. That’s theft, in my mind.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.