"Squatters"

Arts & Entertainment ^

[equaviator]

Squatters are taking over homes across the country and Flash Shelton is the man who gets them out. With bold tactics and street smarts, Flash and his team face tense and sometimes dangerous situations to help families reclaim their property. Each episode reveals the emotional and high-stakes battles where the fight for justice can quickly escalate, putting everyone involved at risk. This is the struggle to take back what rightfully belongs to them.

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TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: crime; housing; squatters

[equaviator]

"Get out of my house!", said the homeowner and "Get out of my house!", said the squatter.

[Opinionated Blowhard]

Squatters are taking over homes in states with laws that protect squatters. They aren’t taking over homes in states with homeowner protection laws (I think Florida is one of them). Yet another reason to vote for a solid conservative governor and legislature in your state.

[DIRTYSECRET]

Gotta be more prevalent in blue areas. It’s gotta be more unoccupied 2nd homes so why would the socialists care?

[suasponte137]

The fact that this squatter issue has still not been resoundingly resolved across the entire friggin country is a testament to the incompetence of state leadership around the country.

[Vaduz]

Léon: The Professional standing by.

[Uncle Miltie]

I am about to move into my new home in Oregon, near (but not in) Portland.

Squatting in Portland is so bad that about 250 “unoccupied” homes are burned to the ground each year under suspicious circumstances that might be squatters.

Funny Story: So I have had a thorough anti-Squatting Team monitoring my empty house. One kid walks the property each night, two neighbors are watching by day, I visit once a week, and contractors are there often.

One early February night, the kid calls me. “The front door is wide open. The upstairs bedroom window is wide open,” he says.

“Leave the property immediately!” I warned.

So my best friend and I loaded up our trucks and made the 2 1/2 hour drive, arriving around 11 PM. We strap up, make a plan (bum rush anyone we encounter) and clear the house room by room, 9s drawn, shoulder to shoulder, he took left, I took right as we entered every room. House was clear.

A wind had probably blown open the door and window. All my exterior doors and windows were on order already, since they had long since failed. No squatters. Bad infrastructure.

[ridesthemiles]

EVERY SINGLE STATE NEEDS TO GET THEIR SQUATTER LAWS TUNED UP

[Dr. Sivana]

Gotta be more prevalent in blue areas.

Many of the laws that protected squatters are (in terms of U.S. jurisprudence) ancient, and written before instant communication and filing claims and deeds by wire. It might be worst in blue states, because the blue states are largely coastal, and there for older for these sorts of things (Massachusetts likely has laws and regulations from colonial times carried over unchanged).

Florida's reforms were needed and can serve as a model, just as Arizona's ESA for alternatives to public school can serve as a model.

[Uncle Miltie]

That is a great movie!

[Vaduz]

Yes it is he had a profile nobody would suspect.

[Jan_Sobieski]

Nice! Good planning!

[Uncle Miltie]

“Hey, it’s your money. I mean, I’m just holding it for you, like a bank. Except better than a bank, ’cause you know banks always get knocked off. No one knocks off old Tony.”

[catnipman]

and believe it or not, NY also recently passed an “anti-squatter” law:

New York enacted a key anti-squatter measure in April 2024 as part of the FY 2025 state budget (signed by Governor Kathy Hochul). It clarifies that squatters are not tenants under state law, making it easier for property owners to remove them without full landlord-tenant eviction proceedings.

Core Provisions (Amendment to Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law §711)Exclusion of squatters from tenant status: The law explicitly states: “A tenant shall not include a squatter.”

Definition of a squatter: A person who “enters onto or intrudes upon real property without the permission of the person entitled to possession, and continues to occupy the property without title, right or permission of the owner or owner’s agent or a person entitled to possession.”

[Uncle Miltie]

You know who your real friends are when clearing rooms hot a state away on a Dark And Stormy Night.

[AppyPappy]

Squatters have to break into houses. Democrats protect them with laws that practically legalize breaking and entering to keep the criminal class on their side.

[catnipman]

[notice below that the bluest of blue states totally disdain
the rights of legal property rights, while protecting illegal property invaders ... the reason so many of Flash’s shows are in states like California and Washington state ...]

Several U.S. states have enacted laws (mostly since 2024) that explicitly remove or limit tenant protections for squatters — treating unauthorized occupants (those who never had permission or a lease) as trespassers rather than tenants. This allows faster removal by law enforcement, often bypassing full eviction proceedings in housing court.

These laws generally distinguish true squatters (unlawful entrants with no prior legal right) from holdover tenants (former tenants with expired leases who may still have some protections).Key States with Such LawsHere are prominent examples (as of mid-2025):New York (2024): Explicitly amended law to state “a tenant shall not include a squatter.” Squatters gain no tenant rights regardless of how long they stay. Owners can more easily involve police for removal.

Florida (2024, HB 621): Allows property owners to request sheriff removal of unauthorized occupants if they unlawfully entered, were told to leave, and are not in a landlord-tenant dispute. Squatting can carry criminal penalties; expedited process.

Georgia (2024, Squatter Reform Act / HB 1017): Requires alleged squatters to show proof of legal right within 3 days or face removal/arrest. Criminalizes unlawful squatting.

West Virginia (2024): Squatters cannot be considered tenants; treated as criminal trespassers for faster removal.

Alabama (2024): Defines squatters clearly and enables 24-hour eviction processes in some cases, with felony charges possible.

Texas (2025, SB 38 and SB 1333): Closes loopholes for quicker removal of squatters and unauthorized occupants.

Illinois (2025, SB 1563): Reclassifies squatters as trespassers (not tenants) for easier law enforcement removal.

Pennsylvania (2024, Act 88): Unauthorized occupants (never tenants) are not entitled to tenant notices; removal via ejectment action.

fsresidential.c
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Broader Trend (2024–2025)Many more states have passed related anti-squatter measures, including:Expedited removal via affidavits/petitions to law enforcement (e.g., Indiana, Kentucky, Utah — often within 48 hours).

naahq.org

Criminalization of squatting as trespass (bringing total to ~23 states by mid-2025).

Other states with notable 2024–2025 actions: Arkansas, Idaho, Maryland, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Tennessee, Wyoming, and more.

Note: These laws do not affect long-term adverse possession claims (which require many years — often 7–30+ — of open occupation plus other conditions like paying taxes). They focus on short-term unlawful occupancy and tenant-status loopholes.

Laws continue to evolve quickly. Outcomes depend on specific facts (e.g., proof of ownership, evidence of no permission). For a particular state or situation, check current statutes or consult a local real estate attorney, as enforcement can vary by locality.

[glennaro]

The law must address what a "squatter" actually is: A Thief.

Theft is a crime. When captured, the thief is not only arrested and subject to prosecution and punishment, the stolen property (in this matter, the real estate and house) is returned to its owner ... and once ownership -- nothing more than providing proof of ownership -- the stolen property is returned promptly to its rightful owner!

[Vaduz]

Check

[SoCal Pubbie]

Hmmmm….

Episode 5 Don’t Piss Off Patti Peeples

When squatters and their pit bull puppies take over a Jacksonville home, police can’t remove them; but Patti Peeples fights back from the sidewalk for 36 days, only to discover the squatters’ final act of revenge.

Florida changed their laws to protect homeowners in 2024, at virtually the same time New York did.

[ConservativeMind]

Squatters are not the home owners and they are illegally there.

They should be shot as invaders.