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[00:00:31] Ich habe die Augen, und hier ist die Stie. Die Bedrohung-Door. Die Tür ist öfter, um das wide zu sehen.
[00:00:37] Sie sind so schnell an mich. So ich freute. Ich habe mich mit dem Pistole und gesagt,
[00:00:42] »Wir sind die F*** aus meiner Haus!«
[00:00:55] Wir haben gesprochen über Squatters vor, aber die Landschaft ist verändert.
[00:01:00] Die Städte sind in den Städten, die es einfacher zu evitieren.
[00:01:04] Sie wollen sich die Schwatten ein kriminell.
[00:01:07] Ich bin Jim Grinstead, und heute haben wir uns über die Ziele zu tun.
[00:01:10] squatting is changing and where lines are being drawn. We'll talk about squatter associations
[00:01:16] and real estate sellers who are taking up arms against them. Squatting is no longer a matter
[00:01:23] of isolated instances. The movement is growing and you'll need more than locks and keys to keep
[00:01:28] your property from being overrun. Here are the basics of squatting. One or more people scout out
[00:01:36] a home or building that's been unoccupied for some time. It may be years in the case of a
[00:01:41] factory building or for a couple of weeks in the case of a family vacation. The squatters move in,
[00:01:48] create a fake lease, and may even change the locks on the door. When the owner arrives, they find
[00:01:55] unexpected guests who refuse to leave. They call the police who say it's a civil matter and the
[00:02:02] rightful owner must go to court to prove they are the rightful owner and that the people occupying the
[00:02:07] building should leave. The process can take months and having a false lease could stretch it out even
[00:02:13] longer as it must be verified. The burden of proof is on the homeowner, not the squatters.
[00:02:19] Sure, we're talking about those empty houses that are being used by partiers and squatters,
[00:02:24] and it's made for some unsafe conditions out here and a hell of a mess. It was a call of a woman
[00:02:30] screaming that brought police to this hillside mansion on Sunset Plaza, and these three people
[00:02:36] were removed from it and handcuffed. It's an abandoned house. They're just trespassing.
[00:02:42] Now, this is a home that once listed for more than $10 million, but is now covered in graffiti
[00:02:48] and littered with debris and feces, and what used to be million-dollar views are painted over.
[00:02:55] That was KTLA in Los Angeles. While on the other coast in New York City, 90-year-old Rabbi Meyer
[00:03:04] Leafer gave Rosalie Moskowitz a place to live when she found herself temporarily homeless during the
[00:03:09] pandemic. She then just stayed and refused to leave. Moskowitz reportedly occupies the rabbi's
[00:03:16] living room and sits on the couch watching his television. Since he invited her in, it's up to
[00:03:22] him to evict her. Even when the property is occupied by squatters, legal owners can't turn off the power
[00:03:34] or water, leaving them to pay for utilities that the squatters use. CPS Sacramento told the story
[00:03:43] of a squatter who rented a portion of the house to family members. The family members dutifully paid
[00:03:49] $800 a month rent. That left lawyers scrambling to figure out what to do with people who believed they
[00:03:55] were renting from a legitimate landlord and were current on their rent payments. Then there were
[00:04:01] times when squatting gets deadly. Los Angeles Magazine told the story of Carolyn Hurling.
[00:04:07] She would identify people who died in the recent past, drive through affluent neighborhoods where they
[00:04:13] lived, and look for signs of property neglect or abandonment. When she found one, she'd strike using her
[00:04:23] arsenal of fake identities, weapons, and forged documents to drain the victim's estate dry.
[00:04:35] In the fall of 2020, Hurling found her mark in Charles Wilding, an elderly man who had lived alone
[00:04:42] in his childhood home. She and her accomplices would eventually dismember his body and throw it in
[00:04:48] San Francisco Bay. But Wilding was not the only victim of Hurling's schemes. A second man, also a victim
[00:04:59] of her forgery, reportedly took his own life. Professional squatting has become a growing trend,
[00:05:20] with criminal rings scouring obituary pages and breaking into the homes of the dead. It's a problem
[00:05:26] that's only going to get worse, according to the LAPD. But what's even more disturbing is that the law
[00:05:32] often protects the victims. In California, a squatter can establish legal possession of a property
[00:05:38] by occupying it for five years without the owner's permission. And when caught, squatters don't often
[00:05:44] see jail time. I mentioned earlier that San Francisco is one of the more tolerant cities for
[00:05:51] squatters. But even in that city, groups share addresses from the San Francisco Department of
[00:05:56] Building Inspections database to identify empty buildings. Squatting can bring about some strange
[00:06:03] situations, as CBS Sacramento explains. She broke into the home. She then started living there since
[00:06:10] November of 2019. Using the family's power, putting the waste management services in her own name,
[00:06:16] she even rented the place out. She was pretending to be a landlord. Charging her own family members
[00:06:22] $800 a month to live in the back house. It's just one incredible lie after another. When Lisa Marlowe heard
[00:06:29] the news about her mom's home, she drove up from San Francisco to confront Amanda Carlson face to face.
[00:06:35] If you saw the property, if you walked around at all, it is a drug haven. Amanda won't likely be back,
[00:06:43] but as for the tenants she was renting the property out to? The police said that because they were paying
[00:06:49] her rent, they thought she was the lawful owner. They actually couldn't be forcibly removed.
[00:06:56] Not surprisingly, legal owners and those impacted by squatters are looking for ways to solve the
[00:07:02] problem. This no trespassing sign didn't do the homeowner any good. He says he was out of town and
[00:07:08] noticed his electric bill going up. That made him suspicious, but it wasn't until he arrived back at
[00:07:13] home that he realized what had happened. The day the homeowner got back in town, he says he saw his
[00:07:17] door ajar, the house disheveled, but no one there. He called police to report some stolen items,
[00:07:22] including an electric scooter, guns, tools, and documents like a social security card and the deed
[00:07:27] to his house. He decided to sleep in the closet just in case someone showed up. This is Fox 35.
[00:07:34] Opened my eyes and here's this guy at the bedroom door. The door's open about this wide,
[00:07:41] looking straight down at me. So I freaked. I jumped up with my pistol and said, get the
[00:07:46] out of my house. The police report recounts the two arguing over who owns the house.
[00:07:51] The homeowner fired a shot into the floor. Now he starts saying, you can't do that. You're
[00:07:56] going to jail. I'm going to call the police. He said, good, call the police. And he did.
[00:08:00] He is the one who called police? Yeah. When police asked the homeowner if he wanted to press charges,
[00:08:05] he said at first he just asked if Brown could be trespassed. I said, you know, I don't want the
[00:08:09] guy to go to jail. He reminds me of my son in a way. Tall, skinny, too smart for his own good,
[00:08:15] dumb as a bag of rocks at the same time. And in Las Vegas, CBS 58 said Jermaine Pritchett walked
[00:08:22] into his house after being away from home a couple of months. He found things had been stolen and the
[00:08:28] property ransacked. And just as he was on the phone with 911, Pritchett says one of the squatters came
[00:08:35] in. Not sure of what was going to happen. Pritchett grabbed his gun, shooting the person once.
[00:08:41] And I was scared to death. If you know, I heard the noise because, you know, nobody comes to my
[00:08:47] place without an invite. Do you just go into people's places? So what if it's open? Is this
[00:08:52] yours? No. Do you pay rent here? Video shared to us by Pritchett shows the aftermath, the squatter
[00:08:57] bleeding and denying breaking in. Look what they did to my place. When you're in that kind of a
[00:09:03] situation, you know that it is life or death. Police showed up and took the squatter to the hospital.
[00:09:08] In their notes, they classified this as a self-defense. It didn't just stop there.
[00:09:13] Pritchett says the next night he caught someone else trying to break in.
[00:09:17] I grabbed his arm as he was reaching in. I held him.
[00:09:22] This incident has caused Pritchett to be stripped of his sense of security and safety.
[00:09:27] I definitely feel 100 percent violent. Pritchett said he had to plead with his apartment complex
[00:09:33] numerous times to change his locks. And then they finally did.
[00:09:37] While Pritchett may have been defending his own house and neighbors in Los Angeles were trying
[00:09:42] to cut down on the noise and destruction of a multi-million dollar home, there are still others
[00:09:47] who want to keep squatters out. Real estate agents. Squatters can hurt property values and decimate
[00:09:54] a property before it goes on the market. According to KT&V, some real estate agents go to work packing
[00:10:01] heat. They're trying to make a living showing and selling homes, but as realtors and agents
[00:10:07] unlock their properties, they're often finding an unwelcome surprise on the other side.
[00:10:13] They were living here. A quick peek to see what he's in for.
[00:10:17] Eddie Lavin armed with a gun as he approaches.
[00:10:20] How are you feeling right now? Pretty nervous.
[00:10:23] He might look like an officer, act like a one-man SWAT team.
[00:10:27] Anybody here? But in a squatter paradise, this is just a day in the life of Nevada realtors.
[00:10:34] Here's our lovely, wonderful squatters that get away with 100% of everything in his town.
[00:10:39] A look inside the property these two share after they say a group broke in.
[00:10:44] Obviously, they were here for an extended period of time.
[00:10:46] Needles, drugs, a knife. This video taken moments after the face-to-face confrontation.
[00:10:53] Worst part, this now heavily damaged home is under contract.
[00:11:07] Not surprisingly, some squatters see things differently.
[00:11:12] They are looking for housing, not a party house.
[00:11:19] In San Francisco, New York, and especially in Europe, squatters have formed organizations
[00:11:25] to plead the case that they occupy empty space because government has not provided adequate housing.
[00:11:31] They lobby political officials to make their case, but they also share addresses of properties that might be available.
[00:11:38] I tried to speak to a few of the European groups, and they quickly told me where to put my microphone.
[00:11:44] I said the acoustics weren't particularly good there.
[00:11:52] The San Francisco Tenants Union, known as Homes Not Jails, says on its webpage,
[00:11:58] Homes Not Jails was formed in 1992 to advocate for the use of vacant and abandoned housing for people who are homeless.
[00:12:06] With people literally dying on the sidewalks in front of vacant buildings, housing advocates, homeless advocates,
[00:12:13] and people who are homeless came together to find ways to utilize vacant buildings.
[00:12:28] It goes on to say,
[00:12:30] Since the government has been slow to act to utilize vacant buildings for housing,
[00:12:35] and people need housing now,
[00:12:37] Homes Not Jails simultaneously opens up vacant buildings
[00:12:41] and helps people who are homeless move in.
[00:12:44] Since 1992, hundreds of these squads have been opened,
[00:12:49] many have lasted for years.
[00:12:51] And Homes Not Jails filed for legal ownership,
[00:12:54] after paying property taxes,
[00:12:56] of a squat that opened in 1993,
[00:12:59] a process known as adverse possession.
[00:13:13] Across the bridge in Oakland, California,
[00:13:15] there's a group called the Cardboard and Concrete Collective,
[00:13:19] which at the time of this recording was promoted by Nita B.
[00:13:23] The group was in an undisclosed space
[00:13:26] where unhoused people can create art.
[00:13:29] One member of the collective explained on its video
[00:13:31] what the group hoped to do.
[00:13:33] The name of our collective is Cardboard and Concrete.
[00:13:38] You got any stuff to say to folks about us coming together
[00:13:43] as unhoused artists?
[00:13:44] I gotta say, it's going to be without boundaries.
[00:13:46] We're going to be allowed to extend whatever our mind tells us,
[00:13:50] whatever our imagination,
[00:13:51] including the hurt, trauma we don't have to deal with
[00:13:53] under this local politics,
[00:13:55] the city government,
[00:13:57] and the poverty pimps that claim to help us.
[00:14:00] You know, so we got free reign and rule
[00:14:01] of our artistic expression is beautiful.
[00:14:03] Nita B closes the video.
[00:14:05] So today's a work day
[00:14:07] where we're setting up our space
[00:14:09] that we're going to be producing art out of.
[00:14:11] We'll be having a really big art show come up
[00:14:14] in the next couple months,
[00:14:15] so stay tuned for that.
[00:14:17] For the unhoused to have a home to create.
[00:14:19] And if you're unhoused and you are an artist
[00:14:22] and serious about your art form,
[00:14:25] hit us up.
[00:14:26] On the science side,
[00:14:28] a University of Michigan study
[00:14:30] presented to the American Sociological Association
[00:14:33] said squatters may be a good thing.
[00:14:36] Here's AI voice Jeff reading from the publication
[00:14:39] Science Daily.
[00:14:40] It can actually be a good situation for a neighborhood
[00:14:44] to have these individuals move into abandoned homes,
[00:14:47] lessening the chance of them becoming sites for drug users
[00:14:51] or burned by arsonists.
[00:14:53] In urban communities nationwide,
[00:14:55] such as Detroit,
[00:14:57] which are experiencing population decline,
[00:15:00] homes have been abandoned by owners
[00:15:02] or left unattended by private investors
[00:15:05] who often purchase them in bundles of tens,
[00:15:08] hundreds,
[00:15:09] or even thousands.
[00:15:11] While attempts to revitalize a city
[00:15:13] rely on private ownership
[00:15:15] to induce responsible care for property,
[00:15:18] that isn't always an option,
[00:15:20] said study author Claire Herbert,
[00:15:22] a graduate of the University of Michigan,
[00:15:24] where she earned a Ph.D. in sociology.
[00:15:27] Herbert,
[00:15:28] an assistant professor at Drexel University,
[00:15:31] interviewed more than 60 people,
[00:15:33] including squatters,
[00:15:35] city authorities,
[00:15:36] and residents between 2013 and 2015,
[00:15:40] while also gathering ethnographic data
[00:15:43] on illegal property use from various sources,
[00:15:46] such as community meetings
[00:15:47] and squatted areas across Detroit.
[00:15:50] Surprisingly,
[00:15:52] many of the residents in the study
[00:15:53] welcome squatters to keep abandoned homes occupied.
[00:15:57] Squatting, however,
[00:15:59] was not considered acceptable to residents
[00:16:01] if the home was still occupied
[00:16:03] or if the legal owner
[00:16:05] was maintaining and overseeing the property.
[00:16:08] But,
[00:16:09] when there is minimal police or city oversight
[00:16:12] to enforce legal owners
[00:16:13] to maintain their vacant properties,
[00:16:16] neighboring residents seek solutions,
[00:16:18] Herbert said.
[00:16:19] Many forego involving the police
[00:16:22] or other city authorities
[00:16:23] to enforce legal ownership,
[00:16:25] but instead encourage responsible squatters
[00:16:29] in order to bring about
[00:16:30] the kind of positive impact
[00:16:32] that legal ownership
[00:16:33] is supposed to bring.
[00:16:41] Despite what the University of Michigan
[00:16:43] has to say,
[00:16:44] homeowners and real estate agents
[00:16:46] aren't pleased about the squatting,
[00:16:48] and that means politicians
[00:16:49] must get into the act.
[00:16:51] Several states have banned
[00:16:53] or are working to make it easier
[00:16:54] to evict squatters.
[00:16:56] Some want to make it criminal.
[00:16:58] It's almost unheard of
[00:17:00] for a bill to pass
[00:17:01] through the Florida legislature,
[00:17:02] both the House and the Senate,
[00:17:04] with unanimous support.
[00:17:05] Everyone from both parties agreeing
[00:17:07] that something had to be done
[00:17:09] about squatting,
[00:17:10] and today Governor DeSantis
[00:17:11] signed that bill into law.
[00:17:13] So far, so far,
[00:17:15] if you're also down.
[00:17:15] Police ended up in a shootout
[00:17:17] with a squatter
[00:17:18] in that Southwest Miami-Dade incident,
[00:17:20] and at this home in Miami,
[00:17:22] occupied illegally by squatters,
[00:17:23] they found a dead body last summer.
[00:17:26] Someone broke into the house,
[00:17:29] they changed the lock,
[00:17:31] and they stay there
[00:17:32] like they own the property.
[00:17:34] Marie Javier owns the house.
[00:17:36] She was having it renovated as a rental
[00:17:38] when squatters took over.
[00:17:39] But they stayed in the property
[00:17:41] like for two months.
[00:17:42] That's because once squatters move in,
[00:17:45] getting them out has been a civil matter,
[00:17:47] not a criminal case,
[00:17:48] so it took time.
[00:17:49] Up in Jacksonville,
[00:17:51] Patty Peoples captured her confrontation
[00:17:53] with squatters on video.
[00:17:54] It took months to get them evicted
[00:17:56] because they had a fake deed
[00:17:58] to the property,
[00:17:59] and they damaged the home extensively.
[00:18:01] It is, quite frankly,
[00:18:03] one of the most frustrating,
[00:18:05] unfair experiences
[00:18:06] and frightening experiences
[00:18:08] of my life.
[00:18:09] The burden of proof was on me.
[00:18:12] You assume in America,
[00:18:14] if you purchase a home
[00:18:16] and own a residence,
[00:18:17] that that's your residence.
[00:18:18] Governor Ron DeSantis signed
[00:18:20] the bipartisan anti-squatting bill today.
[00:18:22] It allows police
[00:18:24] to immediately remove squatters
[00:18:25] if they have broken in,
[00:18:27] if they've refused to leave,
[00:18:28] and if they're not a current
[00:18:30] or former tenant
[00:18:31] involved in a legal dispute.
[00:18:32] You are not going to be able
[00:18:34] to commandeer
[00:18:35] somebody's private property
[00:18:37] and expect to get away with it.
[00:18:39] We are in the state of Florida
[00:18:40] ending the squatter scam
[00:18:43] once and for all.
[00:18:44] Up the road in Georgia,
[00:18:47] WSB said more legislative action
[00:18:49] took place
[00:18:49] when Governor Brian Kemp
[00:18:51] signed a new law.
[00:18:53] The Georgia Squatter Reform Act
[00:18:55] changes that.
[00:18:56] Now law enforcement
[00:18:56] must cite squatters
[00:18:58] criminally for trespassing,
[00:18:59] and that starts a clock ticking.
[00:19:01] They have no documentation.
[00:19:03] They'll be out in three days.
[00:19:04] Say Representative Devin Sebaugh
[00:19:05] sponsored the bill.
[00:19:07] Under the new law,
[00:19:08] if the suspected squatter
[00:19:09] presents a lease,
[00:19:10] the case goes before
[00:19:11] a magistrate judge
[00:19:12] within seven days.
[00:19:14] A fake lease adds
[00:19:15] an extra felony charge.
[00:19:16] These are criminals
[00:19:17] that know exactly
[00:19:19] what they're doing
[00:19:19] and they're taking advantage
[00:19:21] of the loophole
[00:19:22] that we had in our law
[00:19:23] and we've corrected that.
[00:19:24] And just like squatters,
[00:19:26] homeowners have
[00:19:27] different points of view.
[00:19:28] So do governors.
[00:19:30] In Arizona,
[00:19:32] KVOA said Governor
[00:19:33] Katie Hobbs
[00:19:34] vetoed a bill
[00:19:35] that would have allowed
[00:19:36] homeowners to take
[00:19:37] a more aggressive
[00:19:38] approach to squatters.
[00:19:39] Governor Katie Hobbs
[00:19:41] has vetoed another
[00:19:41] 10 measures,
[00:19:42] including a bill
[00:19:43] that would have set up
[00:19:44] new rules
[00:19:45] to deal with squatters.
[00:19:46] Senate Bill 1129
[00:19:47] would have allowed
[00:19:48] law enforcement
[00:19:49] to immediately remove
[00:19:50] suspected squatters
[00:19:51] from a home.
[00:19:52] The homeowner
[00:19:52] would have had
[00:19:53] to fill out
[00:19:54] a sworn affidavit
[00:19:55] saying that the occupant
[00:19:56] is not a tenant.
[00:19:57] Police would then
[00:19:58] verify the property owner
[00:19:59] and remove the squatter.
[00:20:01] Democrats argue
[00:20:02] the bill could be used
[00:20:03] by domestic abusers
[00:20:04] to exert financial control
[00:20:05] over victims.
[00:20:07] Republicans disagreed
[00:20:08] and argued
[00:20:08] the legislation
[00:20:09] was needed
[00:20:10] to safeguard
[00:20:10] the rights
[00:20:11] of homeowners,
[00:20:12] especially
[00:20:12] since many snowbirds
[00:20:14] who leave
[00:20:14] their Arizona homes
[00:20:15] vacant for several months.
[00:20:17] The current process
[00:20:18] in our state
[00:20:19] for removing a squatter
[00:20:20] can get complicated
[00:20:21] and may involve
[00:20:23] the courts.
[00:20:24] So here's where we are.
[00:20:26] Some squatters
[00:20:27] want to get off
[00:20:28] the streets
[00:20:28] and say government
[00:20:29] needs to do
[00:20:30] a better job.
[00:20:31] Other squatters
[00:20:32] just want a free place
[00:20:33] to crash,
[00:20:34] throw parties,
[00:20:36] use drugs,
[00:20:36] and trash the place
[00:20:37] before they're
[00:20:38] forced to move on.
[00:20:39] Homeowners
[00:20:40] are frustrated
[00:20:41] that they can't
[00:20:42] just throw
[00:20:42] the trespassers
[00:20:43] out themselves
[00:20:44] or have the police
[00:20:45] do it
[00:20:45] without paying
[00:20:46] high legal costs
[00:20:47] and investing
[00:20:48] a lot of time
[00:20:49] to do it.
[00:20:50] Real estate agents
[00:20:52] may believe
[00:20:52] they lower
[00:20:53] the value
[00:20:53] of a property,
[00:20:54] but others say
[00:20:55] responsible squatters
[00:20:56] can keep a neighborhood
[00:20:57] looking active
[00:20:58] rather than abandoned.
[00:21:00] If there's an answer,
[00:21:01] I couldn't find it.
[00:21:03] Laws can be passed
[00:21:04] to make it easier
[00:21:04] to evict squatters,
[00:21:06] but that doesn't do
[00:21:06] anything to reduce
[00:21:07] homelessness.
[00:21:09] Frankly,
[00:21:09] very little
[00:21:10] that's been tried
[00:21:11] has had much
[00:21:12] impact on homelessness.
[00:21:14] If things change,
[00:21:15] I'll be here
[00:21:16] to tell you about it.
[00:21:17] In the meantime,
[00:21:19] keep your doors locked,
[00:21:20] the lights on,
[00:21:21] and be sure
[00:21:22] the lawn is mowed.
[00:21:27] If you enjoy
[00:21:28] the podcast,
[00:21:29] please help us out
[00:21:30] by telling your friends
[00:21:31] and encouraging them
[00:21:32] to listen.
[00:21:34] Scams and Cons
[00:21:34] is available
[00:21:35] wherever podcasts
[00:21:36] are found
[00:21:37] and at
[00:21:37] scamsandcons.com.
[00:21:40] If you could
[00:21:40] head over to Spotify
[00:21:41] and leave us
[00:21:42] a five-star rating,
[00:21:43] it would be appreciated.
[00:21:45] Spotify listeners
[00:21:46] are more than
[00:21:46] half our audience,
[00:21:47] so it really does
[00:21:48] make a difference.
[00:21:50] Thanks for listening.
[00:21:58] Scams and Cons
[00:21:59] is part of
[00:21:59] the Killer Podcast Network.