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Updated about 9 years ago, 11/14/2015
Update on my squatter...
I figured I would stop hijacking @rob k's thread and start my own about my squatter. For those who didn't read about my issue, I have a squatter living in a shed on a property I bought. The squatter was claiming rights to the land. I filed for ejectment and had court today. It was great watching the judge shoot down everything he said.
That being said, he now has 30 days to get all of his stuff out. The judge asked how much time he needed to get himself and his belongings out and the man replied "well over 90 days" to which the judge laughed. All in all, it was a learning situation that only cost me $39 to date. We shall see if he is actually gone in 30 days. I will report back.
Originally posted by @Charlie Hampton:
Tax dollars at work there :/
In a state that valued property rights even the slightest this man would have been hauled off for trespassing at a minimum.
"Well over 90 days", I wouldn't have been able to keep my composure in court.
@Account Closed
There is a makeshift chimney coming from the roof so that's how I assume he is keeping warm, but I haven't been inside to be sure. There is no way that an electric heater big enough to heat a 10x10 shed would run off of 300 ft of extension cord. The area did not smell but again I have yet to go inside. As far as hygiene, your guess is as good as mine. I hope I don't find anything once im inside.
Isn't this a perfect situation for "constructive" eviction?
The property is yours. He is squatting in a shed. Just make the surrounding property so inhospitable that he leaves of his own free will. Step one, after having the property line clearly delineated, I'd cut the extension cord an inch onto your side of the property. Step two, I'd set up shop, with paid security right next to his shed, and blast the most unpleasant music money can buy. Maybe borrow some snakes from a local pet store and let them loose on your property as well. Shift the burden to him taking action against you, and in the meantime make living so harsh he'll choose to do it elsewhere.
Of course, given that you're so far into this process, it may be too late for this type of approach now.
What if you put one of those pet safe wireless instant fencing systems and a pit bull in a dog house next to the shed. That would deter most people from coming back.
Originally posted by @Charlie Hampton:
@Account Closed
There is a makeshift chimney coming from the roof so that's how I assume he is keeping warm
Lol, expect to find some surprises when you get in there. What I always wonder is what it is like to live like these people. Like imagine if your day consisted of locating other people's properties, taking them over, then threatening to sue when they tell you to leave?
First buy the most inclusive insurance possible, make call to police telling them that you are living in "your address" and you are reporting "insert local drug dealer name" for drug dealing at "location".....await firebombing from local dealers, squatter runs for his life, collect insurance. Problem solved and you're just being a Good Samaritan. Rebuild house with insurance proceeds
Originally posted by @Robert G.:
Maybe borrow some snakes from a local pet store and let them loose on your property as well.
I like your style!
So there's an unpaid fine. Prod the city to put it in as a lien and let it be known you'll by the lien. Buy the lien and begin the foreclosure process. You won't be directly threating the squatter, or the parents, but you will be putting more pressure on the family to get this taken care of. And it's legal, unlike a lot of the other advice on this thread.
What if you or someone else went there after dark and locked him in the shed? It wouldn't be hard. The door probably opens out. You could put a cinder block in front to keep him in while you wrapped a chain around the shed and locked it. After a few days, he might be begging you to get off of YOUR property.
The other idea I saw on BP once that I really liked was to hire a bigger squatter to move in with this squatter. Neither of them have a right to be there. Find a D-bag in a Tap Out shirt with nothing to do and all day to do it. Pay him to move into the shed. If your current guy is the typical "telephone tough guy", he won't want to be there with a scary thug.
@Account Closed undefined
I cannot imagine if that is what my life consisted of. I wish that energy could be focused into something positive.
That is an excellent idea and I think I will attempt to pursue that. How great would it be to foreclose on the parents house over a $2000 fine.
To everyone:
I will be taking pictures for everyone to see once I am finally able to get inside of this place.
@Rob K. undefined
A friend of mine actually offered to do that for me. I just don't want to drag him into this because I know there will be more lawsuits and charges. The sad thing is that this guys filing fees are waived because he is on welfare, so there is nothing stopping him from filing things day in and day out. Meanwhile it costs me $200 to provide the court with an "answer".
Originally posted by @Troy Fisher:
So there's an unpaid fine. Prod the city to put it in as a lien and let it be known you'll by the lien. Buy the lien and begin the foreclosure process. You won't be directly threating the squatter, or the parents, but you will be putting more pressure on the family to get this taken care of. And it's legal, unlike a lot of the other advice on this thread.
I'm all for creative thinking. But let's be practical. Please find an example or case of a city selling an abatement lien. Any state. All munis I know of have a process for fines to eventually become liens. Never seen one sold. But I'm willing to be proved wrong on this one.
Originally posted by @Charlie Hampton:
A friend of mine actually offered to do that for me. I just don't want to drag him into this because I know there will be more lawsuits and charges. The sad thing is that this guys filing fees are waived because he is on welfare, so there is nothing stopping him from filing things day in and day out. Meanwhile it costs me $200 to provide the court with an "answer".
I get where the police on coming from on this, and the courts. But I don't understand how your health and safety dept. is ignoring it. It's illegal to live in buildings without running water, it's illegal be living in a structure not fit for habitation. The city or county has the power to condemn that building and vacate it. Unfortunately, now that you're the owner, all the fees and fines generated come to you.
Originally posted by @Charlie Hampton:
I cannot imagine if that is what my life consisted of. I wish that energy could be focused into something positive.
That is an excellent idea and I think I will attempt to pursue that. How great would it be to foreclose on the parents house over a $2000 fine.
To everyone:
I will be taking pictures for everyone to see once I am finally able to get inside of this place.
You know that's not how it works, right? If the owners pay the fine, there is no foreclosure. If the property makes it to sale, if anyone bids over $2K all you get is your money back. I doubt there is a $2K home acquisition in your immediate future. :)
Originally posted by @Account Closed:
Originally posted by @Charlie Hampton:
I cannot imagine if that is what my life consisted of. I wish that energy could be focused into something positive.
That is an excellent idea and I think I will attempt to pursue that. How great would it be to foreclose on the parents house over a $2000 fine.
To everyone:
I will be taking pictures for everyone to see once I am finally able to get inside of this place.
You know that's not how it works, right? If the owners pay the fine, there is no foreclosure. If the property makes it to sale, if anyone bids over $2K all you get is your money back. I doubt there is a $2K home acquisition in your immediate future. :)
I'm aware that there will not be a $2k home acquisition, but its fun to talk about it!
Originally posted by @K. Marie Poe:
Originally posted by @Troy Fisher:
So there's an unpaid fine. Prod the city to put it in as a lien and let it be known you'll by the lien. Buy the lien and begin the foreclosure process. You won't be directly threating the squatter, or the parents, but you will be putting more pressure on the family to get this taken care of. And it's legal, unlike a lot of the other advice on this thread.
I'm all for creative thinking. But let's be practical. Please find an example or case of a city selling an abatement lien. Any state. All munis I know of have a process for fines to eventually become liens. Never seen one sold. But I'm willing to be proved wrong on this one.
------------------------------------------
From http://www.nyc.gov/html/dof/html/property/property_bill_taxlien.shtml
When you don
Originally posted by @Troy Fisher:
Originally posted by @K. Marie Poe:
Originally posted by @Troy Fisher:
So there's an unpaid fine. Prod the city to put it in as a lien and let it be known you'll by the lien. Buy the lien and begin the foreclosure process. You won't be directly threating the squatter, or the parents, but you will be putting more pressure on the family to get this taken care of. And it's legal, unlike a lot of the other advice on this thread.
I'm all for creative thinking. But let's be practical. Please find an example or case of a city selling an abatement lien. Any state. All munis I know of have a process for fines to eventually become liens. Never seen one sold. But I'm willing to be proved wrong on this one.
------------------------------------------
From http://www.nyc.gov/html/dof/html/property/property_bill_taxlien.shtml
When you don
I, for one, never mentioned getting physical. I recommended actively changing the environment around him, which he isn't the rightful owner of, to effectively make the shed an undesirable residence. The squatter can't stop the landowner from altering his own property as he sees fit.
This would hopefully result in the squatter leaving. If he chooses to make it physical (which is why I suggested security), then so be it. Once he leaves, the burden will be on him to prove that the landowner acted illegally. But at that point the property will be squatter-free.
In the end though, given how long this has already gone on, and how many of the local authorities are aware of it, it is probably best to sit back and let the (slow and costly) legal system play out.
Here's the closest I got to answering your question:
http://law.onecle.com/new-jersey/55-tenement-houses-and-public-housing/19-101.html
Yes. The Muni can hold a special tax sale - but only on abandoned properties. That throws this out of the window. So since my thinking is on applying pressure to his parents since they are enabling him to continue fighting getting the city involved to apply pressure on the parents seems like a good idea.
http://www.hcdnnj.org has some interesting articles on how to apply pressure on property holders who are holding down values, and causing distress to the city. Red Tagging his parents house, being pre-emptive instead of reactive to the squatter seems like what he needs to be doing.
One problem that I see is that a lot of city employees aren't that up to date on more obscure points of order. If the OP can dig deep and find help in locating some finer points of order he can bring those to the city and have them help him solve this problem.
You mean like the fact that the other son lives in a camper out back of their house?
According to the hcdnnj.com website, it only takes 5 concerned neighbors to submit in certified mail to the muni to start a hearing to force code compliance on their property.
Obviously, if you can get rid of the extension cord you could probably get rid of the squatter. Since filing against the squatter appears to only bring retaliation lawsuits on an un-level playing field. Maybe you could go against the neighbor.
You might consider filing a complaint against your neighbor for trespassing i.e. running an extension cord across your property line, and seek an injunction preventing him from do this. If you have a court Order stating he can't run an extension cord over your fence, you can cut it, file police reports, get contempt of court against the neighbor, etc. At some point, he would probably stop running the extension cord accross your fence.
Good Luck!
Wow! This is a terrible situation especially with the law not working in your favor..
You must be a very patient guy. I would take matters into my own hands by now especially with the court fees you have to pay each time they require an answer from you.
Like a couple others guys were saying, make the surrounding area (your property) unmanageable to live in or better yet pay someone to light that place on fire when he leaves.. you want it demo-ed anyway.