Evicting Squatters

[Kevin N.]

Just got a REO property, the bank never evicted the original owner when the house got foreclosed. Cash for keys did not work. The only way to evict him legally now is go through the court systems but that could take 6 months to a year and $5000. Below are the steps i'm thinking of doing. Please give me the consequences for each of the steps below.

1. SQUATTING THE SQUATTER -Wait when he's not around, change lock, and move my stuff inside the house.  put an alarm on it. When he comes back and call the police and report him trespassing on my house.

2. HIRED A THUG  - Wait when he's not around and break all of the windows, cut wires, copper pipes  and make the house unlivable and too expensive to fix. That will force him out of the house.

3. GLUE THE LOCKS -  Wait when he's not around, put glue into the locks and keep doing it until it's too expensive for him to keep replacing the lock and eventually move out.

Thanks for the inputs !

[Patrick L.]

All of the above items would be considered "self help eviction" and you would be liable for damages.  Many of those items would probably also result in criminal charges against you. Sounds fun but the law is not on your side until you go through the court system to legally remove the occupant.  This was something to consider prior to buying an occupied property if you were that concerned about how long it it would take and how much it would cost you.