A Pennsylvania man returned home from caring for his sick wife to find that squatters had moved into his house, changed the locks, and claimed it as their own. Paul Callins, the homeowner, said he was shocked and frustrated by the situation. He had put a lot of money and effort into renovating the house, which he inherited from his late father.
Callins believes the squatters targeted him after he posted an online rental advertisement. He had planned to rent the house to a government-subsidized tenant when he lost control of it. When he called the police, he was told that because the squatters had a fake lease, they couldn't do anything. It was a civil matter, not a criminal one.
In Georgia, where Callins lives, homeowners must file an "Affidavit of Intruder" to evict squatters. This document then has to go through the court system before the police can act. Callins was told it could take 60 to 90 days to resolve the issue.
This situation is not unique to Callins. According to the National Rental Home Council trade group, about 1,200 homes across DeKalb County, Georgia, are occupied by squatters.
Squatter laws vary by state. In New York, for example, squatters can claim a legal right to remain on a property without the owner's permission after 10 years of living there. In New York City, a person only needs to be on the property for 30 days to claim squatter's rights.
Once squatters have established legal occupancy, it can be difficult to evict them. Some of the ways a person becomes a squatter include a tenant refusing to pay rent, a relative of a former owner refusing to leave the property, or even a stranger who entered the property and never left.
To evict a squatter, a property owner must first send a 10-day eviction notice and then file a court complaint if the order is ignored. If approved by a judge, the owner can get a summons and have a sheriff evict the squatter.
A new bill aiming to criminalize squatting has made its way through the Georgia state House. The Georgia Squatter Reform Act, which was unanimously passed, is designed to make squatting a crime, rather than a civil issue dealt with through the traditional eviction process.
The bill was introduced in response to numerous cases of homeowners, like Karl Johnson and Paul Callins, struggling to remove alleged squatters from their properties. Johnson has been fighting for over three years to get an alleged squatter out of his southwest Atlanta home. Callins, on the other hand, returned home from caring for his sick wife to find that squatters had changed the locks on his home and moved in.
Under current Georgia law, homeowners must file an "Affidavit of Intruder" and wait for the court system to act before police can intervene. This process can take between 60 to 90 days. The new legislation aims to change this by allowing police to charge people criminally for trespassing and making any fake lease a separate felony.
"House Bill 1017 sends a message to squatters you are criminals and will be treated like criminals. If you commit the crime of squatting, you will be arrested, charged with a crime, prosecuted and promptly removed from the property," state Rep. Devan Seabaugh said.
The legislation is now one step closer to becoming law, having crossed over to the Senate. Its unanimous vote in the House indicates strong bipartisan support.
The issue of squatting has been gaining national attention, with legislative actions in Florida, South Carolina, and New York also aiming to crack down on people who illegally take over homes. Squatters are allowed a wide range of rights once they have established legal occupancy, making it difficult to evict them. However, these new laws aim to change that and give homeowners more power to protect their properties.