Invasion of the Property Snatchers
The Financial and Community Impact
By the End 2 End Team
Your property is being taken without your consent and your knowledge. You find your asset is being essentially snatched away from you by a squatter, an individual living in your property while having no title, no rights, and/or no lease.
Despite the squatter having no right to the property, it now falls upon you to determine how to remove them from your residence. You are not alone. This is one of the largest issues that plagues the real estate industry, and is quickly becoming a nationwide epidemic affecting many communities, with the hardest hit areas being our major metropolitan areas. While this is a growing problem, there are strategies you can take to protect your property from being invaded.
While there are strategies to protect yourself from squatters — what do you do if you have fallen victim to this growing problem?
What to Do
The first step is to understand that squatters come in many forms. It will be helpful for you to understand what type of squatter is in your property to determine how to move forward. The type of squatter can vary from a vagrant to individuals who are well versed in the process of occupying vacant properties. In some cases, a vagrant occupant may be removed from the home by simply contacting your local authorities and rekeying the property. However, if you have a professional squatter, these individuals are aware of squatter rights and will pose a larger risk to the property and the timeline to legally obtain possession of the property.
The worst-case scenario is a “master squatter,” where the property owner is not the only victim of this crime. A master squatter is a scam artist who is presenting themselves as an entity who has the authority to rent out the subject property. They rent the property to an inexperienced or high-risk renter who will pay the deposit and rent payments to the fake property management company that will disappear once the tenant becomes aware that they were scammed. The tenants will have a fake lease and in some cases are out a substantial amount of money due to a large deposit or were requested to pay for their lease in advance. In this scenario, you can either help relocate the tenant through relocation assistance or proceed with an eviction process to remove the tenant from the property.
To plan on how to protect your asset, it is important to determine how the squatters or master squatters obtain access. In a day and age where technology continues to evolve exponentially, how do you bring a benefit to the user that does not open up a larger opportunity for deception or fraud affecting the property owner?
How the Scammers Work
While technology is helpful to market your property for rent, know that scammers are targeting vacant properties posted online by rental companies and social media outlets. They will copy the photos, place them on their own social media platforms claiming that they own or manage the property and are seeking tenants to occupy the unit. When they find an interested party, they will go online to the site where the property is listed by the actual property manager or owner and request an appointment to view the unit.
During their visit to the property, they will find a way to leave something open to allow access to that unit after they leave, whether that be unlocking a back door, opening a window, etc. They then come back and access the property and change the locks. They create fake leases and accept funds from unsuspecting renters and provide them with the keys. Some of them have really done their homework using doctored leases used by some of the largest Single Family Rental Companies; therefore, to the uneducated renter, they appear to be legitimate.
Soon after moving in, these victims find out that the person who rented the property to them did not have the legal right to do so. They will try to contact the person only to be harassed, hung up on, blocked or find that the phone number no longer works. A large percentage of these people also find out later that they are also now victims of identity theft, as the person they provided all of their personal information to was a criminal with ulterior motives.
Once the property owner receives confirmation that their property has been occupied by illegal occupants, their first instinct is to call the police and have them removed and/or arrested; however, unless there are obvious signs that trespassing has occurred, the authorities will refuse to assist in the removal of the unauthorized occupants. In most cases, they will refer to it as a civil matter that needs to be addressed with the eviction courts.
This process can be rather difficult when the property is occupied by an unknown person whose name you do not have, and this information is required to file an eviction action in many states. Some states will allow you to file under Jane or John Doe, others do not, posing yet another challenge for the homeowner.
Depending on the state and the situation, it can be a lengthy process to obtain judgment to move forward with a sheriff lockout. The challenges have been compounded by extended delays with the courts and sheriffs that have been created by the pandemic. In some states, we are seeing lockouts being scheduled months in advance. Unfortunately, this process is resulting in large losses for the property owner. Not only have you lost months of rental income, but you are spending hundreds of dollars on legal fees to obtain possession of a property that has been illegally inhabited.
The Impact to the Community
Unfortunately, the financial impact can be much greater than the loss of rental income and the legal fees spent to obtain possession of the property. In addition, the property owner will be required to pay to remove the belongings, debris and sometimes hazardous waste left behind by the squatters or unauthorized occupants. Your property has been occupied for months with an occupant that may or may not have utilities and has used the exterior of the property as their personal landfill and may or may not have incurred code violations and fines. Now that you have possession of the property, you need to ascertain what repairs need to be completed to make your property habitable to rent or sell.
Unfortunately, the impact of this epidemic is not just on the homeowner, but the entire community. The squatters bring with them increased crime, safety risks, and drug activity. That along with the lack of properly maintaining the property and properly disposing of their waste is causing decreased values and interest in the communities. Neighbors are concerned for their safety and possessions. Law abiding members of the community who are actively seeking a property to rent or purchase are unable to do so as the property is no longer available to them and there is already a shortage of housing in many of these communities. Property managers fear for their safety when checking their vacant properties as many of these unauthorized occupants are prepared for confrontation wielding weapons including knives, bats and guns.
It is a difficult situation for all involved, but there are measures you can take to protect yourself from becoming a victim of a squatter.
Due Diligence and Vigilance
To protect your vacant home from squatters, it is imperative that you be diligent in keeping a close eye on your vacant inventory. This requires boots on the ground and completing weekly inspections to ensure that the property is being well maintained while remaining vacant and secure. Speak with the neighbors and provide them with your contact information – they will be your biggest asset and will be happy to keep their neighborhood safe. Install motion lights and/or cameras, security systems, post no trespassing signs and notify local authorities if you see any illegal activities related to your property. While you may not be able to prevent squatters, there are steps you may take to make them less likely to come into your property.
While the strategies outlined in the paragraph above will help protect from the traditional squatters or vagrants, it is imperative that you implement procedures to protect against the more sophisticated squatters and con artists. When screening prospective applicants and approving prospects for viewing opportunities, collect copies of legal documents such as government issued driver’s license and/or pay stubs along with a rental application to ensure that the prospective tenant meets the requirements to rent the property. If they do not meet the requirements, do not provide the ability to view the property.
Having the prospective tenant pre-qualify for said rental requirements will help deter any potential scammers from having access to your property.
With the rising cost of inflation that has affected home prices and rents, we do not have a solution for the recurring problem surrounding unlawful entry into your property. However, we have seen and helped implement a successful strategy for property owners by taking steps to preserve and monitor their assets.
It is important to stay vigilant and perform weekly inspections of your vacant properties, implement measures to protect the property between inspections, and remember that time is of the essence if you do find that you have a squatter living in your home. Lastly, do increase your screening of potential tenants so you do not unwillingly let someone in who is trying to scam you.
With all of this in place, you will make your home less enticing to squatters and will help prevent potential large losses that occur when a property is snatched by a squatter.
