# Winter Squatting



## Traveler (Nov 21, 2011)

Does anyone have any experience with this?


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## Deleted member 20 (Nov 21, 2011)

What like seasonal rental properties? Sounds great, you find a fully furnished beachfront cabin, lakeside country cottage etc that wont be rented till spring. Spring comes you then move to the ski resorts & do the exact opposite at a ski challet. brilliant! absolutely briilliant providing there are no off season renters. Most New England beach properties start renting out to winter renters for the equivilant of one weeks rent during peak season per month from like oct-may. They do this to keep the place rented & have someone else pay the heat bill through the harsh winter. Most of the older cottages were built as strictly summer homes & had no reason to be winterized,insulated etc & probably dont have winter renters. As the rich people move into these areas with there bougie restaurants & mcmansions where simple cottages & fishing villages once were, property values increase & simple summer cottages are converted to yearround family homes. I have family that live on coastal islands in Maine where I have seen a lot of this but know there are still some old places left. Problem with an island community especially in the off tourist season is everyone knows everyones elses biz. Sounds hard to line up. There is a good chance that you could do this without getting caught but no real chance long term. I have no experience doing this or suggest the breaking of any laws. For entertainment purposes only; I have included the hypothetical steps to be taken if I was writing for a paranoid, betrayed & highly skilled former military character in a fictional screenplay while evading his pursuers. No actual landlords or properties were hurt in the making of this film.

Once you find a specific area that you are interested in, start scoping the area around labor day for old smaller cottages surrouded by simmilar properties & write down the addresses (stay away from larger expensive properties or near those inhabited by locals all year round). You can then search online to that areas registry of deeds & find older deeds with out of state property owners or addresses far enough away from the cottage so the owner wont drive by till the snow thaws. Once you find the vacant property with absentee off season landlord, print a copy of the deed from a guest account of a library computer. Obtain an older pay as you go phone from craigslist & get some minute cards from a small convienece store that wont keep security tapes longer than a week or so. Have a friend answer the bogus phone & have an actual conversation with your cell phone records showing a few back & forth calls & maybe set up a recorded voice mail with the owners name. Write up a bogus lease (make rent amount affordable enough for you to pay in an emergency & too good to be true sounding say half of what you think it is actually worth) with the name/address of the property owner & copy his/her actual signature from your copy of the origional deed & put your true actual info. In terms of lease state that you will pay 2 months at a time in cash on the 1st. of each month for the next subsequent months with utilities included per landlords request & a key policy stating the combination of key box & that key must be returned to key box upon moving & place must be clean or security fee could be forfeited. Afterwords say that the owner lived far away & that he didnt want to drive all the way up every month but would rather have cash to reduce taxable income reported to IRS. Write up a cash deposit receipt for 1st,last sec & then for subsequent rental transactions. A house with a wood stove will be perfect; you can purchase a few cords of wood & heat the place without larger than normal utility records. Keep utility useage under radar so owner keeps paying. Or send money orders for utilities in the landlords name at the specific address if you think it will help. When eventually questioned by the true owner or the authorities, produce your paperwork & state that they are not Jon Q. Owner & that you paid your rent already to another guy with the same exact name. Say you found the house after calling a #(cell phone thaat you have saved & offer to police along with your cell phone records if hey want) you noticed on a "For Rent" sign out front after visiting labor day weekend or whenever you determined the property was vacant. Say that you got scammed & that you have already payed all this money, you have a lease & that its too far in the season to get another suitable rental(unless you get thru the whole winter season). Asfar as keys/locks some of these rental properties use an equaly seasonal rental realtor who may or may not use one of those combination key boxes. I would break it off the house & replace it with another similar box & fix any damge once you get key out make copies & mount the new box with spare key for realtor/owner or if locked out since so remote by order of lease. I would make up a regular wholesome looking nice older white guy description for local police.(Dont keep the battery in the cellphone or have it on the property). Say that he said he wanted to rent it to an artist type to watch over the place to ensure the pipes dont break or the house suffer any longterm snow/ice damage in case of sstorm etc. Refrain from using the USPS to recieve personal mail, if you see mail introduce yourself to the mailman & say how you are the winter renter :if no mail man than local post office know to hold or forward mail & no need for a rural delivery to trudge thru snow for a house that was never on his route before but up to you. If it turns into a interogation, I would continue to say that you have rights as a renter & that you paid rent up until such a specific date & have last motnh & a security deposit supposedly in a seperate interest bearing account somewhere. (1)Offer that you wish for him to honor the lease and at the least allow you to remain there for your last months, using the security deposit to cover another months rent you supposedly paid so no cash actually changes hands. (2)He can give you the amount that is owed & you can leave asap. (3)He can take you to eviction court(expensive for landlords having to hire a lawyer especially since he already lives faraway & it will be a pain). Keep the place nice & clean like you were a real renter & give him the incentive to believe that you are just the victim of some phantom imposter. You may be able to live there all season or less with walking money in your pocket at the end without getting in trouble.


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## Earth (Nov 21, 2011)

wow, seems like you've really thought thing's out...

Reminds me of the working of an old friend named Philip Barry,
who's now doing twenty years in prison for running a big time scam
- except it wasn't a scam....

Google him for more food for thought


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## Pheonix (Nov 22, 2011)

highwayman said:


> copy his/her actual signature from your copy of the origional deed & put your true actual info.



in Oklahoma the signature on the deed is the selling party(former owner) not the buying party(current owner)

I think this thread is what your looking for.
http://www.squattheplanet.com/threads/keeping-warm-warming-insulation-for-squats-in-the-winter.1581/


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## Deleted member 20 (Nov 22, 2011)

I see that sucks in OK, but I wonder if there are other electronic public records that will determine the name/address of the current owner(usually mortgage,liens & release docs,exoneration etc). Since these are public records they are usually acceible from a registry of deeds by looking through tons of books but I would stick to online searches if possible. I doubt there will be many tattooed types with a pack working as a title searcher. I wonder if having a simmilar signature even matters or its just my psychosis. Since do you wont really want to fight this in eviction court? The name being identical will show that a more experienced con artist is preying on younger creative artist types seeking affordable temporary lodging, inspiration & solitude. As in all squats there will be some interaction with authorities whom will either want to eject , punish or both. I am guessing that a female may have better overall luck. At first glance they will look at me & know that I am a fast talking city boy with more than my share of shady behavior & run ins with the law. If interested in having found the rental property online there will be isp addresses & email addresses for cyber crime cops to investigate the fraud & though not impossible too long of a process for me to write here. Keep it simple, since most older people still dont use email & or the internet & is more beliveable.


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## Pheonix (Nov 22, 2011)

the people at the probate court were friendly with me and I was a dirty squatter who had to leave my alice pack with the cops at the metal detector. it's their job to let all the public view those fills except in many states the deeds of active servicemen & women are closed. the files at probate court are much better organized then the internet too and not all documents are online yet.

I went to probate court over 10 years ago to find out who owns my squat in Columbus,OH (since been burned down). it was owned by a woman that died in the 80's and her real estate lawyer out of Baltimore,MD.


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## Traveler (Nov 28, 2011)

Actually I was thinking more along the lines of making my own shelter to live in throughout the winter months. Primitive wilderness squatting. I'm not worried about food or water but I am wondering what my chances of freezing to death are.


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## Pheonix (Nov 28, 2011)

proper clothing is key and a good bedroll rated for the weather a must. how do you plan on making shelter?


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## Traveler (Nov 28, 2011)

pheonix said:


> proper clothing is key and a good bedroll rated for the weather a must. *how do you plan on making shelter*?



Not entirely sure but probably a well insulated wikiup, large enough that I can have a small fire for warmth and enough room to sleep with the fire going. Maybe go with a small woodstove if I can find info on a good DIY version.


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## Pheonix (Nov 28, 2011)

we have a DIY stove thread stickied in the How-2 section.


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## Traveler (Nov 28, 2011)

pheonix said:


> we have a DIY stove thread stickied in the How-2 section.


I'll take a look at that then.


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