This is unbelieveable!

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/oddnews/soldier-in-battle-to-rid-home-of-squatters--florida-sheriff%E2%80%99s-office-says-it-can%E2%80%99t-do-anything-210607842.html

i cant get link to work

Squatters

Thanks for the fix, Tru-Talker.

If I were Mr. Sharkey think a midnight visit from me and my army buddies would take care of this problem in a hurry. Shovels work really well in that sandy Florida soil....just sayin.

Ok so you have intruders in YOUR home. One day when they are out dealing drugs or robbing someone, why not just plop down on the couch and when they come back, warn them not to come through the door. When they come in, double tap to the head to protect your home. Wahlah! You have your home back.

Dr. B

Seriously, this is why we decided not to rent Janet's home out. Once they are in, the homeowner loses all rights and it takes an act of God to remove unwanted "leasors" or in this case, intruders.

That's why the smart landlords have starting doing "all inclusive" leases where the cost of utilities are added into the rent. That way, if they don't pay you can cut the power, water, TV, internet, etc.

That is Florida. In Alabama you would not have that problem. And it would not cost hundreds of dollars to evict the trespassers. The owner needs to talk to a good lawyer. The whole problem could have been avoided if the owner had spent a little time and effort setting things up properly before he was deployed.
If the utilities are cut off, the public health people should condemn the residency and padlock the door until he gets back and can get the problem straightened out.

Once they are in and if they stop paying rent they still have more rights than the home owner and thats just wrong.

No they don't. The home owner just needs to stand up for his rights. If he sits on his hands he will get no where. He needs to talk to someone who knows what to do.

I deal with this crap almost everyday. The people that don't pay there rent etc can get atleast 6 months of free rent. Before the process is over and the people are evicted. Even though it's private property you can't just throw them out on the street like I would want to. I think you should be able to seize there assets as a form of payment but that's not the way the system works.

I'll trust the Judge, who is a real judge.

You can trust the judge but what I'm saying isn't hear say it's real world experience over the last several years.

I don't know what the Judge is referring to, but Beadlescomb's assessment of how the system works is correct. Evicting someone is not an quick easy process.

I'd make 'em disappear in the dark of night.

X2

We have a nice single wide trailer about 100 yards from our house (Florida) that my wife's mother lived in till she died. We want to rent it, but after hearing about idiots like these it may not be worth the trouble.

OK have it your way. I do evictions for several apartment complexes and trailer parks. But you all know better than I do. I must be doing something wrong since it is not that complicated to me. But then I follow the law step by step, from notice of termination to the sheriff putting the stuff on the street. Its easy and can be done by computer. But hey, what do I know after thirty five years of practice?

It's not the initial process that is a problem, it is the appeals and court dates that make it a nightmare for landlords. In Dallas County it often stretches out to 6 mos. I'm not questioning what you say, but am curious why it is different? Quicker court dates would be the only thing I can think of.

You cannot cut power or water off even if you cover the bill. Is what I was told by the women I had to go thru at the courthouse to get some folks old of one of my rentals. I paid the water and they run the bill up on me and stopped paying rent on top of that. I could not cover both the rental payment and water so water got cut. I told her I had to turn it off cause I could not fund it. She said they could that as a means of putting off the eviction notice at court and give them more time if the judge felt like giving them more time to leave. I also learned that if you can not get in touch with them for more than 14 days in a row. You must leave note and have proof of said notes that you are trying to get in touch with them. Then you can change the locks and have there stuff moved to a storage place of your liking and must keep it for 6 months so they have a chance of getting the stuff back if they pay you in full. After 6 months you can sell the stuff off to recoup your money. In my case the shi_T they had was worth less than putting it on the truck to move. All this was done thru me talking with the court house lady and my lawer leading my way and sending a few letters out letting them know what had took place. They said they where going to sue me and we'd here from there attorney on the matter. She would not give up a address for the paper work to be sent from the lawer and some personal items to be returned (ie remains of one of them mother). As you can bet we never heard a word out of them. They did show up at my house one night about 2 in the morning wanting a key to get into the trailor to get there stuff. I told them there stuff was in storage and nothing of theres was at the trailor. I thought the husband was going to jump on me but his friend I guess had noticed I had not moved my right arm from behind me which held my 357 snubbie. Glad I didn't have to hurt anyone and this set of renters was the stick that broke my back on the slumlord business.LOL I sold all the land with three livable placements on it. I was done with that.

This seems to me to be a very simple issue. It is not a civil matter as there was never a landlord tenant relationship created. The owner asked a friend to watch his residence, absent a written contract that empowered him to lease the property, the friend had no legal right to lease the property through either a written or verbal agreement. As such, the lovely couple is committing criminal trespass and I would have them escorted from the property by a member of the Sheriff's Department after signing a warrant for criminal trespass, burglary 3rd, and probably criminal mischief as I'm sure the home was significantly damaged. This sounds to me like a Sheriff's Department that didn't want to get involved and gave the owner the standard line that its a civil issue so they don't have to deal with it.