Posted on 04/27/2024 4:58:53 AM PDT by Libloather
New York’s squatter nightmare has gotten so far out of control that even liberal lawmakers are finally moving to plug the loopholes that have facilitated the crisis.
Democratic as well as Republican lawmakers in Albany are pushing measures to crack down on the outrageous scourge, including one bill introduced by lefty Sen. John Liu (D-Queens) that was included in the just-completed state-budget agreement.
Liu credited coverage by The Post and others for bringing “to our attention a problem that needed to be addressed.”
You bet it needs addressing.
Until now, anyone who stayed in a home beyond for a certain length of time (just 30 days in the city!) could claim legal occupancy and force landlords into drawn-out legal proceedings that could take years to get them evicted.
Moreover, among the disastrous changes to housing law under Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2019 was one that required “a special proceeding” to kick out squatters.
The flawed statutes, the onslaught of migrants seeking places to live, the state’s soft approach to crime generally and a backlog of housing-court cases (thanks to COVID court closures) have combined to send squatting soaring — up as much as 20% over the past two years, per one real-estate expert.
Gov. Hochul, who signed off on the budget deal that included the legislation, also praised media efforts: “No one else stood up,” she said.
Some of the cases The Post has reported are, indeed, compelling:
Two teenage squatters allegedly murdered the owner of a Manhattan apartment when she showed up.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
It never occurred to me that there would exist such a thing as squatter’s rights. It would never occur to me that thieves had a right to the goods they stole once in their possession.
To the fools who wrote these laws, if someone stole their checkbook, does that entitle the thief to their bank account?
Dead bodies don’t need to be evicted, they can just be removed
Adam Schiff got some poetic justice in San Francisco when his luggage was stolen from his parked car. Now they are calling for extra security for public figures (except Trump) so they don’t suffer like ordinary people do with their policies.
If there are no protections for private property and possessions, then you don’t really own anything. It’s yet another pathway to Marxism. None of this is random.
Adverse Possession Laws “aka Squatters Rights” are among the oldest laws and probably nearly as old as the 10 commandments. They have existed in some of the oldest recorded laws from Babylonia and have persisted through the Roman Empire then medieval times into British Common Law and then American Law.
The intent was to prevent waste of lands or eviction of people long subsisting on lands. Records/maps were very poor and some people may have already lived there since before legal ownership of that land even existed.
These laws may not fit with today’s very different world but this is not some recent liberal creation
I don't think we really own anything. Oh, they give you a piece of paper that says, "Deed" or something, but you still have to ask their permission to cut down a tree on "your" property. And government leftists think they own your children.
I suppose the Elvis Presley movie Follow that Dream has been on TV these past few years.
All I remember in the movie is Denver Pyle saying Squatters Rights about a hundred times.
Was totally unaware of that concept. So I looked it up.
Half the land out West is owned by the Federal government, vast acreages. You think if someone went out there and somehow claimed property secretly the government would recognize squatter’s rights; then drilled for oil on it?
Sounds like a good investment.
I really like the way you think.
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.