A woman who moved to New Hampshire from Colorado Springs, Colo. is now facing untold misery because her house, which was up for sale and in the hands of a realtor is now being inhabited by squatters. Pauline Hawkins is a single mom and teacher with a son who has a rare form of cancer. She really needs the money from the sale of her home to pay her son’s medical bills.
Her realtor, Linda Schauer, had a buyer for the house, but now she isn’t even allowed to show the home until the squatters are gone. “They destroyed my house so much so that when the buyer went through the final walk through, took the offer off the table,” said Hawkins.
This story is being repeated all across America, as foreclosures and other circumstances force people to abandon or try to sell their homes. Once the house is empty, it is literally up for grabs to the first squatter who claims it. From Portland, Oregon to Detroit and almost every state in between, the number of vacant houses occupied by illegal squatters is on the rise.
In some areas, squatting has added a new twist, including people using Craigslist to advertise vacant homes “for rent.” Another deal involves professional squatters moving into abandoned homes and forcing banks to pay them cash to move out. This has become known as the “cash for key” scam.
Detroit’s special problem is heartbreaking
It is estimated that 16,000 people in Detroit are homeless. And with winter plowing through the Northeast, it is particularly worrisome to city officials. Detroit is in the midst of an urban renewal project after coming out of bankruptcy in December 2014, and the grand plan is to demolish tens of thousands of vacant and blighted homes in an effort to fit the city to the population.
While city planners say the population has dwindled to a third of the size it was in the 1950s, the idea of tearing down homes that people need to protect themselves from the elements is causing some problems. According to the city, tearing down vacant homes is a number one priority. They say this will get rid of drug dealers, reduce the number of dead bodies turning up and cut down on sexual assaults.
The city does not allow occupied properties to be demolished, and therein lies the problem. If squatters will not leave a home voluntarily, the police must be called in. This can take weeks or even months to accomplish. Michele McCray, 58, has been homeless for much of her adult life. She calls the vacant houses “abandonminiums,” and she says she has had her choice of many homes over the past few years.
A survey completed last year indicated that 40,000 houses were in need of being demolished, with another 38,000 showing indications of blight and considered to be up for demolition. Craig Fahle, a spokesman for the Detroit Land Bank Authority, the agency overseeing the project said they would not stop in their efforts to remove squatters from the properties, adding, “Illegal occupancy is an issue, but there is plenty of work to do with homes that are not occupied.”
What rights do squatters have in the U.S.?
Squatters rights aren’t really a specific list written down somewhere, but actually refers to a form of adverse possession. This is a legal principle that comes to us from England, and it’s been around for a very long time. According to the Cornell University Law School, the legal definition of adverse possession is “a doctrine under which a person in possession of land owned by someone else may acquire valid title to it, so long as certain common law requirements are met, and the adverse possessor is in possession for a sufficient period of time, as defined by a statute of limitations.”
Depending on where the vacant home is located, there are state laws to contend with. Everything, from the length of time the house is being occupied by squatters to if property taxes have been paid is taken into consideration. People are advised to post No Trespassing signs on their property, but for a determined squatter, the signs won’t do much good.
