When does someone who breaks in, become a tenant?

Question

I've heard the horror stories on here about squatters and how people have needed to go throughthe eviction process, even though there was never a lease in place.

Might be a dumb question, but at what point does a squatter or thief, or someone who shouldn't be at the property, have legal rights to the property? I'm sure different states have different laws, but say for example someone breaks in to a vacant property. If the cops come, can they simply say "I live here?" Or if you walk in to a vacant property to rehab it and a squatter is there? Can you call the cops? Or do you need to post a notice?

Mike Smith · Answer

I'm a cop in Oregon and deal with this occasionally. Every state will be different but I tell you how we deal with it. First of all, for criminal (trespass) purposes, we don't recognize "tenants." A person has either established residency or they have not. And if they have, they have all kinds of rights to remain there until legally evicted. A lack of a lease or rent payment have absolutely nothing to do with it. If a person who has residency there has invited/allowed someone else to stay there, it is not a trespass and that person can establish residency, even if it violates the lease of the legitimate resident.

There is no specific definition of how residency is established. Spending a couple nights at your buddy's house with the expectation you'll go home afterward doesn't establish residency. Sleeping there for two weeks with no end date discussed.... maybe. Things like receiving mail there help establish residency. To convict someone of trespass we have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that they were not supposed to be there, so if they're in the gray area of residency, the state has to prove that residency was not established.

In the case of squatters they establish residency if the property owner knows or should have known that the people were living there. My agency went through this in serving eviction notices on a massive homeless camp that had existed on private property for 10+ years. Since the owner knew about it and did not make it an issue, they had to go through the eviction process when they finally decided to clean it up. Before that, we basically had to assume that anyone in the camps was a resident and could not be removed.

Mike Smith · Answer

I suppose that's possible, but very unlikely. People lie to us all the time, so we get fairly good at sorting out who is credible and who is not. Simply claiming the landlord is lying without any documentation to back it up is not going to get a squatter very far. If we're looking at a legitimate landlord-tenant disagreement it will be pretty obvious and we'll advise the parties they'll have to work it out in civil court. If a person starts squatting in a vacant property and they never had a right to be there, that will also become obvious pretty fast and we will remove them.

Mark Fries · Answer

@Jack Bobeck

100% agree....JSO could CARE LESS about any tenant/eviction/squatting issue....will ALWAYS just say it's a civil issue....you are better off not even calling them. I respect the police but in regards to this issue they are useless....

Jack Bobeck · Answer

@Lazaro Dinh Its the worst time in Jacksonville to have derelict tenants. JSO either will not help or will claim they cannot evict anyone per the mayor's directive, but maybe see if you can go in and speak with someone in your ZONE at the ZONE office. Take a mask as a precaution, see if anyone on the JSO will help you.

You could also do Cash for Keys and then get the people out by paying them something to get out. Sometimes it works sometimes it does not. I would also contact the guy in Jax that I know the best for landlord issues, Paul Howard of FLAlandlord Network. He has managed hundreds of units and has great knowledge of what can and cannot be done, even now. You might call him first. Please let him know I referred you, so he knows its serious. He also holds meetings the 2nd Wed of each month in Jax. Worth a trip if you are around.

Best of luck to you here in Jax.

Simon Collins · Answer

Yes!!!!

Lazaro Dinh · Answer

I have the same situation in Jacksonville right now. 4plex with an eviction and final judgment to evict prior to Covid-19. Tenant on the lease claims she is gone and no longer responsible, Sheriff has not executed the final writ dues to Covid-19 and neighbors claim some people are coming in an out of the apartment, selling drugs and smoking weed outside bothering the other 3 tenants. This is a new one for me, my gut tells me to go change the locks and avoid getting shot, my wife says call the cops and see if they will execute the writ since the tenant claims she is gone and there is supposed to be noone there.

Any thoughts on this board?

Nathan Gesner · Answer

I don't think this is correct. If I called the police and reported someone moved into my vacant rental and I just discovered it today, the police would go out to investigate. But if the individual inside the rental claims they are the legal resident, the cops can't remove the person because the Landlord may be lying. It has to go through the eviction process. This is why squatters are wreaking havoc around the country by occupying vacant properties.

Am I wrong? Are you able to forcibly remove someone from a home just because the Landlord tells you they're squatting? Are you allowed to enter the home and investigate to determine whether the occupant is legal or not?

Chris London · Answer

CJ, While I don't know the specific laws in OH, I can generally state that it's typically tricky when the person has or had a lease on that property. That is where a police officer will avoid getting into contract law while standing in the doorway. You will need to file for eviction to have a judge order the sheriff to remove the person.

When does someone who breaks in, become a tenant?

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