Florida Sheriff Issues Awesome Warning to Squatters After DeSantis Announces Crackdown on the Insanity

If you had been told, say 20 years ago, that if you left your home unoccupied for a period (times vary in different states) and new "tenants" moved in on their own (in New York, for just 30 consecutive days), those "tenants" would acquire legal rights to stay put, for at least the time being, even after you proved ownership, what would you have thought?

Me, too — I just can't include it in this article.

As "squatting" continues to spread across the country, including by illegal aliens, and squatters have become savvier about their "rights" — which should be zero — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday announced, "We are ending it":

DeSantis signed into law a unanimously passed bill designed to combat so-called "squatters' rights" and which puts the power back into the hands of law-abiding property owners and local law enforcement.
At the signing presser, DeSantis declared that his state was "putting an end to the squatters scam":
"We are putting an end to the squatters scam in Florida," DeSantis said. "While other states are siding with the squatters, we are protecting property owners and punishing criminals looking to game the system."
[...]
Under the law, a property owner can request law enforcement to immediately remove a squatter if the person has unlawfully entered, has refused to leave after being told by the homeowner to do so and is not a current or former tenant in a legal dispute.
The law also makes it a first-degree misdemeanor to make a false statement in writing or providing false documents conveying property rights, a second-degree felony for squatters who cause $1,000 or more in damages, and a first-degree felony for falsely advertising the sale or rent of a residential property without legal authority or ownership.

Classic DeSantis — doing what he does best.

DESANTIS: "What passes muster in New York and California is not passing muster here. You are not gonna be able to commandeer someone's property and expect to get away with it."

"[We] are ending the squatter scam once and for all." https://t.co/02Z73921rg pic.twitter.com/n6JdotQOdg
— Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) March 27, 2024

Martin County, Florida Sheriff William Snyder thinks the law will "absolutely" help eliminate or at least lessen squatting.

There's a real technicality when you go out to a home and somebody proffers that they live there, then the legitimate owner has proved that it's their house. It gives us teeth to enforce the law and to return the home to the rightful owner.

As I suggested at the top, the mere thought of "squatters' rights" is oxymoronic.

Snyder then issued a stern warning to squatters who violate the new law.

We'll go right out there, and it's our intention here in Martin County to get that home back into the hands of the rightful owner and get the trespasser out. And then I will provide them [the squatters] housing. They will not be unhoused. I'm putting them straight into my jail.

Bingo.

Before the law's passage, Florida landlords complained about lax property rights as squatters invaded homes and caused serious damage, leaving homeowners to foot the bill. Jacksonville property owner Patti Peeples told Fox News host Pete Hegseth in 2023, after multiple squatters moved into her property and caused nearly $40,000 in damages:

"We would be in jail," she said when asked what would happen if she tried to take matters into her own hands and remove the offender. "In fact, I couldn't even turn off the electricity and the water. We are prevented from doing that.
So not only did they steal a home to live in for a period of time, but they lived in relative comfort with a washer-dryer, which they stole, a fully stocked kitchen with all of the appliances and heat, air conditioning, and water."

Florida's new squatters law is scheduled to take effect on July 1.

Meanwhile, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Eric Adams were unavailable for comment.

UPDATE: Venezuelan Illegal Immigrant, 'Migrant Influencer' Leonel Moreno Behind Bars

A California Company Is Making a Business Out of Kicking Squatters Out of Properties