Squatters' Rights

Squatting simply means finding empty housing and essentially taking up residency without an agreement with the landlord.  This can be a short-term housing option or it can evolve into long-term housing.  People who squat often do so for political reasons, but some people do it because they simply cannot afford the high cost of housing.  Squatters really do not have many legal rights because they are viewed as trespassers by landlords and society in general.  To be arrested for trespassing, though, the property owner needs to make a complaint with the police.  If the police find you but the property owner has not complained and you are not causing a disturbance, you should be able to remain on the property, at least for the time being.

Legal rights in the United States are generally stacked toward property owners, but squatters can do some things to improve their situation.  First, there is something called adverse possession, which says that if you use or live on someone else's property long enough, the owner may essentially abandon his rights to the property.    Usually, though, the statutory requirements are 5 to 20 years for adverse possession to occur.  

Squatters are considered just that because they are not paying rent, and they do not have the landlord's permission to be on the property.  But rent does not have to be money; it can be providing maintenance and security in exchange for a roof over your head.   And a lease agreement does not have to be written down.  If  a squatter tries to establish the appearance of tenancy, not just squatting, he may forestall the landlord's inevitable attempts to remove him from the property.   To this end, the squatter may want to make the property look like a home by putting some furniture in it, by putting utilities in his name at the address and by having mail sent to the address.  When the inevitable showdown with the police and the landlord comes, the squatter may be looking more like a tenant than a squatter and it may be harder to have him removed.  

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