Told to Vacate Apartment, Might Be Squatting And Would Like Advice

[Inhibition]

My family has been told to vacate after living in the same place for 20 years. We've never missed rent, but a new landlord bought my place and is kicking us out so he can double the rent. I'm not sure the covid eviction moratorium fully protected people in our circumstance where renovation occurred, but as of now I have no legal rights to stay either way.

I've always admired you travelers and am politically anarchist, but due to health concerns and my own issues, I have never lived your lifestyle. It might become forced on me as there is a housing crisis where I live with rents skyrocketing and availability disappearing. Even if I find another apartment in time to avoid homelessness, I've always felt like I wanted to live more so by my ideals but have had too much fear. I have glossopharyngeal neuralgia (which can cause me to go mute), major depression, and anxiety disorders. I spent a lot of my life as a shut in with social phobias. I've overcome them somewhat, but it's a really big step to be living freely where I don't have the privacy of my home.

For people who travel and squat, how much of this was forced on you and how much of this was choice? How do you deal with fear? I see homelessness as being caused solely by capitalism, by wealthy hoarding private property and limiting the rights of the poor to build their own shelter. I believe squatting the planet is a natural human right that was exercised during the time the indigenous people lived here. So politically I am 100 percent behind you. But I still have this fear.

If I do travel, I will likely be bicycle touring in the Pacific Northwest. I don't drive or have a vehicle and my voice isn't reliable enough to hitchhike or deal with too many social situations with strangers. It's been my experience that speaking is the first and best line of defense in sketchy social situations to de-escalate or clarify situations. When I go mute, I've had people become aggressive very quickly. It seems to attract aggressive behavior like people see vulnerability and want to make you a victim.

I'd like to hear any input from you guys.

 

[Spazz]

Hi,
I am in a very similar situation including the mental health symptoms. I had to "call in" a favour from an old friend who became a paralegal and it looks like it cost us the friendship.

You need to call the Sheriff's office or your local police department. What your landlord is doing is most likely illegal. Unless papers have been filed at court, you are NOT being evicted.

The "Landlord's Eviction Society" thumbtacked a 60 day notice to my door 50+ days ago and my doggo earned her new name, AK-47, but legally it doesn't mean anything at all.

Wanting to sell or gentrify an investment property is not just cause for an eviction, especially not in the middle of a global pandemic.

This is so common right now that I am not even ashamed of falling for a scam and you shouldn't be either.

You can call the courts and ask if any papers have been filed with your (parents?) name on it. As long as the answer is "no", fake eviction scams are the legal equivalent of the biggest bully in kindergarten trying to steal your lunch money.

The pigs...er...our brave boys in blue are too understaffed to play security guard but nine times out of ten, nothing is going to happen on the day the "Landlord's Eviction Society" claims you are going to be locked out of your home.

I've been dealing with this shit since April and it really fucks with your mental health. They use that against you big time.

Of course you need to find a better living situation but know your legal rights and make sure to take good care of yourself as far as eating, sleeping, any sort of therapy or support groups, etc.

Feel free to dm me if you just need to vent about a crazy making situation. Keep on doing your research and hit the road when YOU are ready.

Your disabilities may make you vulnerable, but there are a lot of cool people in the world who will appreciate you for your strengths and many different ways to live.

Anyone who disrespect s you just because you have mental health issues isn't worth your time.

Eta links: Emergency Bans on Evictions and Other Tenant Protections Related to Coronavirus - https://www.nolo.com/evictions-ban

Nolo press has been around longer than the internet has and is an excellent and reputable source of legal info for regular people. Your State may or may not have some hoops you need to jump through.

https://www.iowalegalaid.org/resource/move-out-in-three-days-are-they-serious-the-m

Yes, we fell for the "Nigerian Spam" of landlord scams but why should we be ashamed of having better things to do with our minds?

https://www.sanfranciscoinjurylawyerblog.com/fake-eviction-notice-scam/

Yes, rich people really can be assholes. Try googling "(name-of-your-city) tenant's union" if you don't live in San Francisco.

 

[Beegod Santana]

The eviction moratorium ended the Monday before last and it seems like everyone and their cousin is getting eviction notices. Everywhere is a little different, but I say fight that shit and you can probably get at least another 6 months to a year outta it.

Squatting a house is unfortunately pretty high stress. Personally I've always much preferred urban camping when traveling over squatting in buildings. Worse you get in a park/the woods is a ticket, where's I know people who've done months in jail for squatting condos under construction. I don't know you or anything about your condition but I have met mute people on the road before. Just keep to yourself and move on if someone rubs you the wrong way. Most bum fights happen after a half gallon or two and lots of shit talking.

 

[Inhibition]

Those are both awesome replies, thank you!

We sought legal advice and the lawyer basically said that the notice to vacate was legitimate and was filed through a legitimate court properly. He said that if there is an eviction attempt (beyond the notice itself), it is possible that even if the judge ruled in giving us more time, the eviction attempt itself would still go on our record for 7 years and make finding future places much more difficult. Landlords are counting attempts in themselves as evictions, which is quite sick but doesn't surprise me.

My mother definitely can't do bike touring, so we have to prioritize getting a place to keep her safe. It's looking likely we have a place lined up in time to avoid homelessness. We haven't signed the lease, but have now been approved and are awaiting the property to be renovated a bit more.

I'm definitely going to look into joining our tenants union here. What is happening is gentrification and if there is something I can do to support other tenants I will need to do so.

Even if we line up this place and are not homeless, I already intended to do some bike touring prior to this whole situation and am hoping to do so still, but it's true I'm not fully prepared or researched and if it can be done with full preperation and on my timeline it will likely go better. I'd very much like to be able to experience whatever freedom I can and I don't believe any of these lands legitimately belong to wealthy capitalists and being able to explore and live more freely sounds more in line with my ideals, even if I have a place to return to.

I also need to find some actual anarchists and have some solidarity and social bonds. I live in an extremely liberal town, and their dogmatic support of capitalism is driving me nuts.

 

[Kerosene Larry]

What city are you in, they may be resources for free legal council to help with the eviction. Once the notice has been received its very important to get it in the hands of a lawyer asap. I have worked with my local tenants union and they have done amazing work keeping people housed (often for free) for months often years after being served an eviction notice.

 

[Kerosene Larry]

Also if you're are in an apartment please talk to your neighbors, they are all likely facing the same problems and it will be easier to organize against the new landlords together.