Squatters...

[Frank_N_Stein]

Most of us never have, and hopefully, never will have reason or opportunity to murder someone in cold blood. But the urge to end somone who usurped something as personal as a residence you've worked to own for the benefit of your family is understandable. Standing before them and filling them with huge bloody holes for a property crime takes an amount of coldness that is difficult to muster. Being required to do that as part of your job is asking a lot and your skepticism is understandable.

I never said it wasn't understandable. There are a lot of things people do that warrant being unalived, but the world doesn't work that way. I was simply commenting on the bravado. I have had to use deadly force to defend myself and to be honest I cried while talking to my dad about it even though I was 35 years old and had been a cop for 15 years. Those that think they can take a life for something like squatting are putting on airs.

 

[Ziggidy]

Maybe some squatters need to investigate where some prominent politicians have some property. Pelosi, Schiff, Biden, Todd Young…..you know. Maybe something would be done?

 

[Michigan Slim]

Not to threadjack, but you might look into a simple alarm system that uses cellular to communicate. A simple motion sensor inside the cabin is all you really NEED.

And I believe there are ones that will just text you, so you dont have to pay for a monitoring agreement. US Mobile has a $5 plan for SMS alarms.

The problem is cell service. Sketchy at best. No voice coms ever. Simple text sometimes. I am going to get a cell game cam and put it up on the hill by the drive and see if it works. It sits quite a bit higher and I may get some service. If not, I'll use the camera down here.

 

[Creedmoor]

If an officer encountered two people who both claimed ownership of an automobile, the officer has the resources to quickly get up to date information on the official owner of the vehicle

Perhaps the officers should be provided with information available from dispatch as to the recorded owner of property in a dispute as well. The official owner of the property's word should be given greater credence than anyone else and if anyone has to be required to be removed and later prove their claim to the courts it should be the individuals without property rights

Also, since the clock is ticking on a 30 day window after which it becomes much more difficult and time-consuming to have squatters removed, perhaps that clock should be stopped upon the first complaint by the owner that the occupants are not legal

So we should turn over civil matters to law enforcement before any due process?

 

[rbhargan]

There is a simple solution to the problem - make the punishment so harsh that people stop doing it.

This requires homeowners/prosecutors to go after the squatters, take them to court convict them, and then for judges to impose major punishments on the offenders.

If you knew that "squatting" was going to cost you 5-10 years in prison, most people would take a pass.

The key is that the crime has to be prosecuted and harsh punishment imposed - no plea deals. Most prosecutors/judges lack the testicular fortitude to do that. Very sad.

 

[Tombs]

There is a simple solution to the problem - make the punishment so harsh that people stop doing it.

This requires homeowners/prosecutors to go after the squatters, take them to court convict them, and then for judges to impose major punishments on the offenders.

If you knew that "squatting" was going to cost you 5-10 years in prison, most people would take a pass.

The key is that the crime has to be prosecuted and harsh punishment imposed - no plea deals. Most prosecutors/judges lack the testicular fortitude to do that. Very sad.

Just classify it as home invasion, and allow existing laws to handle it.

It's pretty easy to differentiate it from a lease over-stay since there's a paper trail.

 

[patience0830]

I never said it wasn't understandable. There are a lot of things people do that warrant being unalived, but the world doesn't work that way. I was simply commenting on the bravado. I have had to use deadly force to defend myself and to be honest I cried while talking to my dad about it even though I was 35 years old and had been a cop for 15 years. Those that think they can take a life for something like squatting are putting on airs.

I get it.

 

[Cameramonkey]

The problem is cell service. Sketchy at best. No voice coms ever. Simple text sometimes. I am going to get a cell game cam and put it up on the hill by the drive and see if it works. It sits quite a bit higher and I may get some service. If not, I'll use the camera down here.

Look at a cellular directional antenna Those work wonders. Im seeing cigarette pack size alarm transmitters that have an external antenna connector. So that might do it for you. cable to the roof, directional antenna pointed at the distant tower.

And if you have at least 1 bar, the alarm can get out. Especially if its SMS text based. I'd only be worried about signal strength if you wanted to go full cell account for internet at the cabin and remote video viewing.

 

[Cameramonkey]

There is a simple solution to the problem - make the punishment so harsh that people stop doing it.

This requires homeowners/prosecutors to go after the squatters, take them to court convict them, and then for judges to impose major punishments on the offenders.

If you knew that "squatting" was going to cost you 5-10 years in prison, most people would take a pass.

The key is that the crime has to be prosecuted and harsh punishment imposed - no plea deals. Most prosecutors/judges lack the testicular fortitude to do that. Very sad.

Well, we could solve their homelessness issue for months to years... so there is that...

 

[JTKelly]

As much as I hate to involve .gov in peoples' lives, but I wonder if there needs to be some kind of registry? Not sure how it would work. Just something like how we register vehicles which enables 3rd party proof of ownership possession. I mention this because we dont seem to have these problems with vehicles, do we?

Why not find a place where these kind of problems are rare or don't exist, now let the places WITH this problem COPY the same laws for their problems.

 

[Hawkeye7br]

Sounds like an alarm system with auto-call to local PD is worth the monthly fee. I know we feel comfortable with ours.

It's NFA violation for anyone else to possess my suppressor, correct? So if I tell PD my can was stolen, I know who stole it and where it is, squatter immediately has do deal with ATF? Yes or no?

 

[Michigan Slim]

Look at a cellular directional antenna Those work wonders. Im seeing cigarette pack size alarm transmitters that have an external antenna connector. So that might do it for you. cable to the roof, directional antenna pointed at the distant tower.

And if you have at least 1 bar, the alarm can get out. Especially if its SMS text based. I'd only be worried about signal strength if you wanted to go full cell account for internet at the cabin and remote video viewing.

I'd need a solar setup too. Not to hard to do.

 

[BugI02]

Generally speaking, leases do not have to be recorded and leases less than 3 years don't have to be in writing.

What's to keep an unscrupulous landlord from calling a lessee a squatter just because he found someone that will pay more rent?

This is why there is a legal process to determine who has legal rights to occupy the property. It's not just the owner.

What's to keep an unscrupulous squatter from claiming to have a valid lease when he does not

I'm not saying final disposition shouldn't be made by the courts, I'm saying the property owner's rights should be paramount in such a dispute until such time as the courts can intervene

 

[Denny347]

I believe a lot of the risk comes from where people choose to own homes.
Marion Co, all bets are off & likely to not be in favor of the homeowner.

Not true at all. It's rather easy to remove trespassers in Marion County. IF you have the homeowner onscene that is. The issue we come across is that neighbors call 911 to report squatters in the vacant house next door. Without an actual homeowner, there is nothing we can do to kick them out. Lots of out-of-state owners in these parts or property in some sort of limbo with ownership.

 

[Denny347]

If an officer encountered two people who both claimed ownership of an automobile, the officer has the resources to quickly get up to date information on the official owner of the vehicle

Perhaps the officers should be provided with information available from dispatch as to the recorded owner of property in a dispute as well. The official owner of the property's word should be given greater credence than anyone else and if anyone has to be required to be removed and later prove their claim to the courts it should be the individuals without property rights

Indianapolis already has this. Tax records https://maps.indy.gov/MapIndy/

Also, since the clock is ticking on a 30 day window after which it becomes much more difficult and time-consuming to have squatters removed, perhaps that clock should be stopped upon the first complaint by the owner that the occupants are not legal

There is no time frame that determines/establishes residency in Indiana. We've had people move into vacants, scammed into a fake lease, only to have a property caretaker checking on the property a month later and find them. They are told to move out, with a reasonable timeframe. They have no legal right to stay. Now, I have had property owners sign REAL leases with victims scammed into fake leases, so they don't have to move at all. However, that is up to the property owner. We have also come across instances where the officers cannot say the civil matter has crossed into criminal. In those instances, we refer the owners to small claims court for a civil eviction.

 

[Leadeye]

I'll be curious to see if it gets much worse as the influx of illegals continues.

 

[dieselrealtor]

Not true at all. It's rather easy to remove trespassers in Marion County. IF you have the homeowner onscene that is. The issue we come across is that neighbors call 911 to report squatters in the vacant house next door. Without an actual homeowner, there is nothing we can do to kick them out. Lots of out-of-state owners in these parts or property in some sort of limbo with ownership.

That is good to know, my thoughts were based on the current prosecutor.

 

[Dean C.]

You mess up when you call the cops on squatters in the first place. You call the cops on dead home invaders. Hypothetically of course

 

[Cameramonkey]

You mess up when you call the cops on squatters.

FIFY.

Assuming you have access to a pig farm or backhoe.

 

[Ingomike]

In My House!

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