Vacant rental homes can rapidly become a source of great regret and distress. When a tenant moves out and no new occupant is found right away, these empty properties can attract unwanted attention. The empty spaces may strike as an inviting opportunity for trespassers and squatters watching out for shelter. Without the best oversight, what was once a vibrant home can hastily spiral into a snubbed shell, attracting trouble and anxiety for landlords.
What is squatting?
Squatting appeals to the unlawful occupation of an uninhabited building or unused land. In simple language, for homeowners, a squatter is someone who occupies your property without your permission. This situation can, over and above that, also include former tenants who settle on the property without paying rent after their lease has expired or been terminated.
Unlawful occupants can negatively impact your rental property and make it a headache to lease to new tenants. To completely prevent squatters, it is so important to secure your property. If you do not want to stay near your rental home, study about hiring a property management company to monitor the property regularly and handle tenant turnover.
What to do at the first sign of a squatter?
If you notice a squatter on your property, you should immediately contact the police. The longer you enable a squatter to live there, the harder it will be to evict them later. Courts may interpret your failure to act as a sign of consent, making the eviction process more tedious.
Another potential issue appears if a squatter manages to turn on utilities at the property in their name. In particular areas, doing so can establish legal residency, though the squatter occupies your property without your permission. If this exists, the police may classify the situation as civil rather than criminal.
If the police cannot assist you, the new step is to serve the unlawful occupant with an eviction notice. Just providing this notice can totally push and encourage the squatter to move out voluntarily. But, if they refuse to leave, you may need to file an unlawful detainer lawsuit, which will commence formal eviction proceedings.
The duration of this process can vary depending on the performance of the court system in your state, taking anywhere from two weeks to several months. If you secure a judgment in your favor from the court, you can enlist the local sheriff or police to remove the squatter on your behalf.
What to do with a squatter’s leftover property?
When you have successfully evicted your squatters, you have to tackle any personal property they may have left behind. Whether they left on purpose or were forcibly, though rightly, removed, it’s quite understandable for them to abandon some belongings.
The following steps rely on the laws in your area. In various states, you may dispose of these items without consequence. But, anyhow, in other places, you will most probably be required to store their belongings in a storage unit at your own expense. If the squatters do not claim their property and return to you the storage fees, you may have the right to auction off the items or dispose of them as per local regulations.
Handling squatters can be time-consuming and resource-intensive. To elude this, proactive management is the central key. At Real Property Management Platinum, we profitably operate the tenant move-outs and, as quickly as possible, fill vacancies. An occupied rental property is both beneficially profitable and free from squatters. For more important details concerning our property management services in Woodward Park, please contact us online or call 559-425-8550.
Originally Published on November 16, 2018
We are pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the Nation. See Equal Housing Opportunity Statement for more information.
