nervous about first squat; need stories

[Mama Dragon]

so i've done my homework. i know all about the property i want. the owners are out of state. the neighbors are not friends or relatives. i've been there. i've unlocked the doors.

today i snagged some bolt cutters and a new padlock. my plans tonight are to find some muscles (i don't have any, i'll have to borrow someone elses), cut the padlock on the front gate, and replace it with my own

so that tomorrow i can walk up bold as ever and unlock the gate to my new, borrowed farmhouse home.

there is just one thing bothering me though, and i need stories from experienced squatters:

just what the heck can i expect when the owners find out i'm there? what do people say when they discover squatters? what do they do? what will the county sheriffs do when/if the owners send them out?

i'm terrible about confrontation. i need to be ready for it from right from the start to be realistic, but i honestly don't know what to expect. the fear of the unknown is all that's holding me back

how have you been removed from your squats?

 

[dirty_rotten_squatter]

get a piece of mail sent to the address, via friend, or even a 6 month magazine subscription or something. You never know what to expect from owners, because everyone is different. They might beat your ass, or they might understand you just never know. most of the time they do call the police and if decided to press charges, youre booked for criminal tresspassing. I got caught for that in new orleans just stayed for the weekend, and got out said I was leaving town as soon as I got out of jail, so they didnt charge me any fines... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adverse_possession the mail would give you actual possesion Ive been removed from more than my fair share, but you sound like you got a pretty good deal goin on there. lemme know if ya need any more info

 

[Mama Dragon]

the mail is a good idea! i'm going to order a bunch of free seed catalogs right now.

 

[Gypsybones]

well I know in PA if you receive certified mail (ie. company's not friends) and live there for a month you actually have to be evicted. because I believe that PA still has a sort of squatter rights bills, but then again PA is a commonwealth and a more rights oriented state.

but then again if you we're removed by the 5-0 but you had lived there for a long time and made improvements to the place, (ie no longer and eye sore and what not) I think in a court battle you could win as being a self appointed caretaker.

I mean sure its all speculation but that is one wonderful thing about our court system, good bullshit can get you anywhere.

 

[Wolfeyes]

Last I checked, in FL if you have proof (I.E. Mail in your name @ that address) that you've resided there for at least 30 days you are considered a tenant of the property owner, at which time the owner has to give you 7 days to pay back rent, at fair market value, for the time you resided in/on that property. After those 7 days, the owner has to to serve you with an eviction notice, giving you an additional 30 days to vacate the premises.

After you're evicted, you're not responsible for back rent because IIRC Fl doesn't honor verbal contracts in regards to renters, and because you never had a written rent agreement, you were never actually a tenant, even though you had all the rights of a legal tenant regarding eviction.

 

[BelCh]

This might sound weird and over-coutious but, When you first kick door the joint . Wear

a hat and something over your face. My friend did six months for kick dooring a house

that someone was using as a feed shed. They Identified him by the cameras the guy

had up from people stealing fertilizer or something. All hear say to me ... but hey It

might not be such a bad idea : )

 

[genghis braun]

Last I checked, in FL if you have proof (I.E. Mail in your name @ that address) that you've resided there for at least 30 days you are considered a tenant of the property owner, at which time the owner has to give you 7 days to pay back rent, at fair market value, for the time you resided in/on that property. After those 7 days, the owner has to to serve you with an eviction notice, giving you an additional 30 days to vacate the premises.

After you're evicted, you're not responsible for back rent because IIRC Fl doesn't honor verbal contracts in regards to renters, and because you never had a written rent agreement, you were never actually a tenant, even though you had all the rights of a legal tenant regarding eviction.

only problem with that is that florida is a right to shoot state, which means that if someone finds you on their property, they can shoot you dead and not suffer any legal consequenses so long as they can prove that their life was "in danger". you might want to check on whether or not the state you live in is like this-but don't let it prevent you from squatting. it really all boils down to the individual that finds you there. if you fixed up the place, the owner might be more inclined to let shit slide, but don't bank on it. everybody and every situation is different, just keep in mind that the property owner being really hostile is a possibility, as is the owner just letting you stay there or simply telling you to leave. your best bet really is to just be smart about your squat (don't let people see you enter or leave) and if the house itself is raised off of the ground, make a hole in the floor somewhere to use as an escape hatch.

 

[finn]

...today i snagged some bolt cutters and a new padlock. my plans tonight are to find some muscles (i don't have any, i'll have to borrow someone elses...

You don't need muscles, you can use leverage. Put a not-so-tight loop of shoelace or paracord around the rubber handle grips of the bolt cutters and put the jaws on the lock you want cut. With a strong stick/metal rod/wrench/etc twist the loop around and don't let go of it as you twist the loop. When you've twisted the loop as much as it can go, untwist it and make the loop smaller, and then repeat the twisting.

Oh, don't use the shoelace of your shoe/boot, since you might not be able to reuse it.

 

[hobopoe]

(realize thread is pretty much dead, but adding to the list of state laws on squatters rights I guess) I am curious if this webpage is accurate or not. I wonder if the mail being sent would make anything viable still.

http://www.ehow.com/info_8700144_squatters-law-wisconsin.html

here in wisconsin, it seems different. A genuine pain in the rear.

 

[Matt Derrick]

(realize thread is pretty much dead, but adding to the list of state laws on squatters rights I guess) I am curious if this webpage is accurate or not. I wonder if the mail being sent would make anything viable still.

http://www.ehow.com/info_8700144_squatters-law-wisconsin.html

here in wisconsin, it seems different. A genuine pain in the rear.

hmm, it's difficult to say without doing the research yourself. one thing to keep in mind though is that websites like 'ehow' are basically link bait farms. they pay people anywhere from 10-30 bucks an article (or not at all) to generate articles that are around 1-2,000 words at most, and have certain key words that are designed to game SEO (search engine) results, and basically steal results from more reliable websites like wikipedia. they of course do this for advertising revenue, which is why there's links all over the freaking place.

anyways, long winded explanation, but i'd take anything ehow has to say with a grain of salt.

 

[hobopoe]

Fair enough. I will dig deeper.

 

[chriscarter]

some squatters will keep a dog with them to bark if someone shows up
Scooby Doo and the gang were always looking for a place to squat
the gilmore girls said they got their house from squatting but they claimed that they inherited from their grandmother
the beverly hillbililies were squatters
if you ever seen the first episodes of happy days, that family snuck into that house
lucy and ricky had stolen an apartment on 'i love lucy' when fred found them in the buiilding
deputy fife on 'mayberry' was stealing houses from people by running them out of town
the show 'dallas' was about this guy that posed as rich and was squatting a mansion in texas
alot of tv shows start from people who were squatters