Hypothetical question: How to get rid of a squatter?

[James Edmister]

Hey everyone, in the BP podcast #50, a flipper had just finished rehabbing a house in north Detroit. When he came back the next day, someone had broken in and changed the locks. He said he had to get in touch with his lawyer and it ended up taking 90 days to legally remove the squatter. A few questions I have (and I was hoping for some Texas perspective on these) are:

Why did it take 90 days to remove the squatter?

How would that situation (within confines of the law) pan out in Texas? I would think the cops would forcibly remove the squatter within a day.

Is there any part of the insurance that would protect the investor from damage or other costs if this were to happen?

Have any of you (or someone you've known) had this happen in our state?

Again, this is hypothetical. I would be blown away if it took Texas cops/lawyers more than a few days to remedy this. Thanks!

[Rick H.]

The keyword term "adverse possession" brought me here.

Yes, it's true that eviction laws vary from state-to-state and that even a sympathetic judge can overreach local laws in the same judicial district. 

With squatters you have two choices: mitigate or litigate. 

Carrot and stick measures are mitigation tactics that only work if your squatter likes carrots (or even knows what they are!). Cash for keys is only one example.

Litigation is a crapshoot. You've done everything humanly possible to make the inevitable relocation easy for the squatter but they can't "hear" because the voices in their head tells them to dig their heels in and you'll go away.

Squatters are often mentally and emotionally damaged persons. Sometimes (but not always) affected by things that they ingested. 

And my freebie tip for the day: you can't fix stupid.