Crisis in America: Squatters rule the land while homeowners live on the streets

[New Sancai Compilation First Release] In the United States, homeowners who go on vacation or work, even for just a week, return to find that their homes have been occupied by trespassers who fraudulently claim the right to live there. It's a situation faced by tens of thousands of homeowners from New York City to Atlanta and Los Angeles.

When the owners called police, they were told police were unable to assist. It's a civil matter and they must file eviction proceedings, which can drag on for months or years due to housing court backlogs.

Meanwhile, homeowners are living on the streets, while squatters live a free life, destroying homes and even selling off owners' belongings.

Georgetown University law professor Jonathan Turley explains that if you spot a stranger in a car and call the police, they will immediately ask to see the registration and determine who owns it. They don't let thieves drive away. But the law is stacked against homeowners.

Leftist lawmakers have devalued property rights and tilted the law in favor of criminals. The result is an epidemic of blatant preemption.

In New York State, homeowners facing a trespasser can take up to two years to evict the trespasser. Property owners, meanwhile, are prohibited from turning off utilities, removing belongings or doing anything else to get rid of intruders.

Long Island, N.Y., Assemblyman Jake Blumencranz introduced legislation saying squatters are not tenants and are not entitled to the same protections. But will Albany let the bill pass?

But some states are moving quickly to combat this crime wave.

The Florida Legislature passed a bill authorizing police to immediately evict anyone who cannot produce a notarized lease. The Georgia General Assembly passed the Squatting Reform Act, which criminalizes squatting — criminal trespassing — to be handled by the police, not housing courts. It is likely to pass the Senate soon.

Is there any hope for homeowners to get protections against squatters in blue states like California and New York? Not from Congress. Democrats in Congress are actually pushing for a federal housing law that would prohibit landlords from knowing whether a potential tenant has a criminal record, including past misappropriation convictions.

But there is a remedy—filing lawsuits in federal court against states like New York and California that fail to protect property rights.

The U.S. Constitution enshrines property rights as a fundamental guarantee. Recently, judges struck down state laws that allowed trespassers to interfere with property rights.

In 2021, the Pacific Legal Foundation filed a lawsuit on behalf of the property owner, and the court ruled in Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid that "authorized government intrusion into property" amounts to a taking as directly as if the government had taken the property.

Favoring trespassers over property owners constitutes "predation" in violation of the Fifth Amendment, which states that the government cannot infringe on your rights to your property.

There is no time to waste taking action to protect homeowners.

Leonel Moreno, a Venezuelan TikTok star, claimed that invading empty houses is the only option for illegal immigrants to flood into the United States. His TikTok video explaining how to identify vacant homes available for rent has been viewed 4 million times and has since been deleted.

Criminals from south of the border come in droves to plunder in the much wealthier United States.

Some cross the border illegally and are recruited by the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and El Salvador's MS-13. Others entered on tourist visas.

Law enforcement reports a surge in South American theft gangs operating in at least half the U.S. states.

Of course, many immigrants are honest and hard-working. But there's no denying that the northward "take what you can get" movement brings new dangers to homeowners, including from squatters.

(Author: Dr. Betsy McCaughey is the former Lieutenant Governor of New York State)

(Compiled by: Wang Jimin)

(Editor: Jiang Qiming)

(Source of the article: Compiled and published by New Sancai)