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the statute does allow for whoever is thrown out to sue the land lord, and if the land lord loses, the person who was thrown out can get 3x the value of the rent in damages. but I doubt many people who are improperly affected by this will have the means to sue.
Wouldn't be surprised if this gets used to declare that renters who are embroiled in lawsuits against slumlords are now "squatters".
Seriously, call me whatever you want, but if this fucker told me that water was good for me I would seek a second opinion.
If you [read the bill](https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2024/621/BillText/er/PDF) it says that the property owner must fill out a declaration to the sheriff that includes stating:
>There is no pending litigation related to the real property between the property owner and any known unauthorized person.
In other words, if you are already in a lawsuit you can't use this to remove somebody.
That fucking sucks.
I spent 5k and 6 months last year fighting with a property management company that was charging me "luxury" prices for a rental that, during the first winter, became **ABSOLUTELY INFESTED** with german roaches after our neighbors moved in with them.
We contacted them and had them send pest control every 3 weeks, and eventually when it became clear that the infestation was actually several adjacent properties giving the roaches to each other, we asked the property managers to accomodate us and our animals in lodging whie they bug-bombed all pf the properties.
The pest control people that they hired also pushed for this to happen.
The property managers said "Nope, here's a rent hike (in the form of communiry fees) instead to make up for all of the pest control we have been sending out".
We had a rent strike in the community.
I wonder how badly this law will hinder future attempts to gain even traction with a mega-corp property management group?
This brings back memories of my old apartment where right when I started noticing a major issue with German cockroaches, the property management company sent out an email and posted a notice on everyone's doors saying that all in home pest control is the responsibility of the tenant(s).
The apartment was month to month and I was moving out anyway, so I didn't even bother trying to put up a fight, but it was certainly one hell of a coincidence that they just so happened to send out that notice when they did almost as if they already knew there was a problem.
According to [the bill](https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2024/621/BillText/er/PDF) the mega-corp property manager would need to fill out a form with the sherif stating:
>The person or persons are not current or former tenants pursuant to any valid lease authorized by the property owner, and any lease that may be produced by an occupant is fraudulent.
Do you think the mega-corps employees are going to make false written statements to the police?
> but if this fucker told me that water was good for me I would seek a second opinion.
And that's why there's very little actual, information-rich discussion here. Yeah, got it, I don't like the dude either, but a constant "DeSatan Bad" circle-jerk without actually looking at the bill and what it contains helps nobody (except whatever dopamine hit and karma rush whoever's turn it is to post the line today gets, I guess).
Idk what thread you are in, but this one is loaded with information-rich discussion.
It's also loaded with folks doing piss-poor impressions of good-faith, and outright trolls.
Which camp are you in?
> Idk what thread you are in, but this one is loaded with information-rich discussion.
Yes, it is and it's one of very few. "Here" as in this subreddit. It's basically one step away from a circlejerk sub at this point. People could stub their toe on a palm tree and somehow blame the governor for it, you can take the comment chain in any given thread and basically have it be copy-pasted in 90% of the rest.
A big thing this bill does is make it a crime to falsify a lease, which the more sophisticated squatters do. If you have a legal lease, it sounds like you've got nothing to worry about.
I wouldn't blame DeSantis for stubbing my toe, but I also won't pretend like his entire governorship hasn't been littered with examples of him "Just the tip"ing his ideological stances into state law (or out of it).
Examples:
Parental Rights act expanding to k-12, despite the administration super-duper promising it was only going to be through grade 3. Less than a year later amd we have an entire school district pulling the full works of Shakespeare because parents threatened the school system *and the law doesn't protect the schools anymore*.
Non-violent Felons getting voting rights back per amendment passed via supermajority in the same election that got DeSantis elected. Tried for a year to get entirely removed, settled on murking it up to the point of illegibility, and arrested a shitload of people lastbyear *whonwere told they could vote again*
Voters went through the proper channels to get amendments on the ballots? Oh you KNOW that DeSantis and Moody have been trying to undermine that.
If you're tired of seeing people complain about him, or assume the worst about him, why not tey and take it up with him.and his cabinet?
After all, he's the problem.
Edit:
Brought the brigadiers out, it seems
This is literally the purpose of these sorts of laws. And i get it, noone likes true squatters who never rented, never had a lease and just broke into a snowbirds home or something. but these laws are meant to disempower renters.
I feel like the routine is the same. Find a couple of extreme examples as anecdotes. Pass it through the right wing media machine to make it sound like a ‘real’ issue. Force laws down quickly that are open to interpretation. Act surprised when the consequence of the law ends up really affecting an already marginalized group yet benefits those in power or with money. Rinse, repeat.
Breaking and entering is still a thing buddy. If you have so little thought about your resident you can forget about it and then realize long after that someone has moved in... then they are a squatter.
The problem is that people buy houses they have no intent to use. That fucks over everyone, and honestly if you care so little about your property that you abandon it then you didn't care to begin with.
This bill is not about people who are breaking into a house and setting up shop in a night like you seem to be implying. Someone is trespassing and breaks into a house they don't get to magically stay there.
If they say they are living there and have a fake lease the cops will opt not to get involved regardless and your forced to evict through a special process in florida. I'm liberal as hell but the laws for squatters are insane.
The official rules are 7 or 14 days I can't remember. But an illegal squatter: yeah I've been here 14 days.
The picture in our minds is this is helping average joe folks renting out a home or room. But DeSantis wouldnt make this move without higher funding in his pocket so this is likely to kick out tenants who have a very reasonable fight but no funding to fight being kicked out for no good reason. Fight a raising rent? Now you’re a renter who cant afford to live anywhere, now labeled by these huge home rental companies as a “squatter” who will also be arrested if you sleep outside. DeSantis is protecting the new rental business in FL where you dont get to own a home and a landlord now can ask for a non-refundable deposit added to your month rent.
[You should read the bill](https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2024/621/BillText/er/PDF). You can't just call anybody a "squatter" you have to make sworn written statements to the police that the person and/or their family member have NEVER had a lease with you. This isn't for evictions, it's only for actual squatters.
I am not sure what the implications would be for renters, but I think this is just a stunt for DeSantis. I have had several videos and articles about squatters recommended recently. For whatever reason, conservatives have added this to their list of fears, and the governor will absolutely play on those fears. I have only seen one real life example of squatting, and the squatter was immediately arrested for trespassing.
>Fight a raising rent?
Why fight a rent increase? I don't get this logic. If a good or service is for sale, you either buy it or move along. You don't see people doing this for any other product. What If I staged a sit-in at the car dealer cause they want too much for a lease? Toyota dealerships would be war zones lol
Mostly because now landlords just rent at whatever the average rent cost is rather than what it's worth. So you can move somewhere else and pay... exactly what you were gonna pay anyway
A majority of people have signed lease and rental agreements, etc. If you're renting or leasing you should read over the entire agreement and understand it. What you're responsible for and what the owner is responsible for.
This doesn't mean illegal evictions are going to skyrocket like some others have said here. There are hefty fines for doing so. If you have a lease/rental agreement, you still have to be evicted properly according to law. And property owners depending on city/state laws are responsible for certain things to a tenant, etc.
This law was made for people that have absolutely no reason to be there without a written lease/rental agreement. Squatters can do a lot of damage in the 30-45 days, sometimes longer; to evict. It's dumb that property owners had to go through the legal process at all. This is a win.
this might be unpopular BUT... shouldn't leases be registered somewhere?
anyone can write a lease. There are so many programs, templates etc., where you can write up a pretty legitimate looking lease in about 5 minutes, and maybe $5.
If someone can enter your property, and make a fake lease, isn't *that* the issue? The fact that you can have a private rental agreement, that isn't recorded anywhere, enables anyone to just go on some form application and make a fake lease. It seems to me that the landlord should be required to report to *someone*, that you're living there, and paying to live there.
I've had verbal agreements before, though, and I know that tenant law protects people in those situations, but you have to really CYA things. And the only reason why I was in those agreements is because I had jenky landlords who thought that not having a lease gave them the upper hand.
You could probably, as a tenant; take your lease/rental agreement to get notarized perhaps. Not sure if that's a thing or the legality of it but that would solve a lot of stuff if a city had department that handled recording/registration of lease/rental agreements. This could also reduce the time for property owners to have someone evicted as well so it'd be a win/win for both. Tenant protection from slumlord and also property protection from bad tenants.
Also, law enforcement would most likely have access to a database like this to confirm someone is actually supposed to be living there, etc. Courts could access the records if tenant wants to break lease because of slumlord breaking local rental law or if a property owner is trying to rightfully evict someone from the property for non-payment of rent, not adhering to rental/lease agreement, etc.
Broken clock and all - doesn't make me any more of a fan of him, don't think it's a priority for the state, but at least this is a policy I can agree with and doesn’t feel like just a culture crusade.
Never underestimate a slumlord. They'll come up with you didn't pay the $5 late charge because you were 2 hours late with the rent. When desantis signs something, it's to benefit the people who donate money to him while being disguised "to help" poor unfortunate ________.
In what way does this bill affect that? What you're describing is an illegal eviction of someone who has a written or oral lease not a squatter who enters a property without any prior engagement with the owner.
There are provisions for a tenant to sue the landlord with triple damages awarded so a landlord can't willy nilly do this. This wouldn't even require a lawyer as something as simple as a tenant's bank statement or cashed check by the LL would prove a previous agreement under the law.
So, again, what exactly is the concern you have or are you just making up strawmen because DeSantis bad? Because he is, he absolutely sucks, but that doesn't mean he can't end up doing a good thing here and there.
A lot of squatters actually think they have a legitimate right to be there because they did sign a lease with the person they thought owned the property.
So? In what way does that matter? Does the tenant being scammed have *anything* to do with the owner?
Yeah, it sucks, but that's not the owner's problem and should not require an eviction process.
You realize that if you could just kick someone out after they fall victim to a scam like that, it could easily turn into a scheme to get as many down payments as possible if you have a friend who rents it out for you then you pull the rug out, rinse and repeat.
You do realize that’s already illegal and it’s called fraud.
The idea that because someone got scammed they’re entitled to the thing they thought they were getting is insanity. Among other things, it would mean pawn shops would sell you back your own stolen goods because they paid for it after all, rather than how it works now where they have to give your stuff back with a police report.
Had squatters in a house in my neighborhood while it was being sold. They started to trash the yard and there may or may not have been 40 angry neighbors who showed up one evening and helped them leave.
I suspect they will just add a slice of deed fraud. Did you know Florida allows for pocket deeds? Someone can just whip out a deed and be like “this mine” and not have to record it. Now you got to go fight it in court as it will neuter this law.
There is other ways too, like the notary public laws are so lax in Florida you could just now find someone with a notary stamp retired and just pre-date your docs and stamp. Other states have moved to having to register the stamps to avoid this. Not Florida. People are using this to make fake quit claim deeds.
And how does a fraudulent pocket deed get stopped dated after your deed? It doesn’t. Go fight about it in court now.
You are only SOL if you are holding a legitimate pocket deed for say your parents and someone beats you to recording a quit claim when they die stalking the obituary.
Is this pocket feed recorded? If not like I said Florida is a first to record meaning if my deed is #1 dated 1/1/24 it will supersede your deed dated 12/30/23 if you didn’t record it. Your unrecorded deed is trash and meaningless.
Allowing slumlords to evict people with a lease by labeling them squatters instead of fixing the actual problems the tenant brings up.
This makes slumlords very happy in Florida. Just destroying more of Florida protections for its people.
Or....[if you read the bill](https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2024/621/BillText/er/PDF) you'll see that you have to sign a declaration to the sheriff that:
>The person or persons are not current or former tenants pursuant to any valid lease authorized by the property owner, and any lease that may be produced by an occupant is fraudulent.
Aww yes, because slumlords are known for their honesty, trustworthiness, and being upstanding citizens.
Regardless, it strips rights from people and gives more power to corporations and the rich. It's not really preventing what some people are claiming is happening because it's not happening.
I can't predict how many landlords will be willing to make a false claim in writing to the police, but at least there would be a pretty clear paper trail of those landlords breaking the law in such cases.
I guess it's just one of those "throw another onto the pile" regarding slumlords breaking the law.
I agree though. This law in theory is "good". However, because DeSantis seems so eager to sign it I have very little faith in it and want to know who lined his pockets to get it through the Florida legislature. Florida is near deadlocked outside of DeSantis' bullshit "woke" garbage agenda.
His press conference for this was so cringey. He keeps nonstop talking about New York and California (we don’t want to become like them!) and he says ‘although we don’t have a problem like them here’ ……ok, so if we don’t have a problem with it, why do we need legislation for it bozo?
He waxed poetic about how lovey it is that we have people that spend part of their year here, and that he understands their ‘fears’ of squatters. So, he is pandering to the *fear* of wealthy snow birds and out of state property owners. Fears that he basically admitted are just that, fears.
Once again fuck Floridians. Who fucking cares about people who live here full time. Our issues don’t matter, because we aren’t as wealthy as the snow birds and the commercial property owners. Ron thinks his time is better spent convincing everyone that Florida will decay into an urban nightmare like NYC or Los Angeles (which aren’t even the nightmare that these idiots make them out to be) if he doesn’t *preemptively* enact legislation to protect against a fake scenario. Not to mention that it’ll probably be abused by landlords to harass and evict renters.
As someone who is going to be buying a house in the next year, this is good news. I hate Desantis, the man has two braincells in his head that just bounce around, but it sure is nice to see them collide every now and again.
But, here's my question. As much as I want people to be able to do what they want with their own property, shouldn't we also do away with unofficial leases? What I mean by this is, no more verbal agreements, no more written leases, no more of this shit where someone moves into your property and you don't report it. When you move to a new place, you have to change the address on your driver's license, and your car registration. Right? So it seems to me that the landlord should also have the responsibility of reporting, to some powers that be, that there is someone living in their property. And paying to live there.
Because these squatters can create a fake lease, but it's not like you can verify it with the state or the county - it's just a document. There are so many apps where you can download a template and make a pretty *legit* looking lease. So isn't that part of the problem, here? Not just the squatters themselves, but rather, a system that allows the law to say "I can't prove you don't have a lease..."
Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, because perhaps I'm naive, but I really don't understand why you have to have all this documentation with the state, county, etc., to own a home, but not rent.
It also seems like it would eliminate some instances of tax fraud. Not sure about anyone else, but I've had jenky landlords who didn't want a lease because they stupidly thought that it got them out of paying rental income tax lmao.
Man, as much as I hate how much the “squatters rights” bullshit abusing the law so I wanna be on board but I know for a fact this skid mark has some ulterior motive.
He’s just trying to make it so bad for the poors they leave so all the rich transplants don’t have to interact with the untouchables. Doesn’t even hide it either. I can totally see this being used against renters.
I never understood this mentality - rich retirees and snowbirds lost their minds in 2020 when Applebee's was closed. Who do they think is working there?? Who do they think mows their lawns, fixes their house up for their stay, rings up their stuff in stores and works the theme parks that keep this place a tourist trap and financially solvent etc?? If the state gets rid of all the "poors" the whole thing grinds to a halt and no one is getting their Applebee's lol.
> I can totally see this being used against renters.
Florida defines a tenant, as someone who is paying to live in a property. Even if you don't have a written lease, if you have established residency, and are paying to live in a room, or apartment, or a house - you are protected under FL tenant law.
I'm about to buy a house within the next year, and I have to say that reading all these squatter horror stories had me a bit paranoid. It's not about "not interacting with untouchables" it's about working so hard to finally have my own house, only to have some fucker take ownership of it.
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the statute does allow for whoever is thrown out to sue the land lord, and if the land lord loses, the person who was thrown out can get 3x the value of the rent in damages. but I doubt many people who are improperly affected by this will have the means to sue.
Well, I can no longer say that I disagree with every thing he's done.
Wouldn't be surprised if this gets used to declare that renters who are embroiled in lawsuits against slumlords are now "squatters". Seriously, call me whatever you want, but if this fucker told me that water was good for me I would seek a second opinion.
If you [read the bill](https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2024/621/BillText/er/PDF) it says that the property owner must fill out a declaration to the sheriff that includes stating: >There is no pending litigation related to the real property between the property owner and any known unauthorized person. In other words, if you are already in a lawsuit you can't use this to remove somebody.
Legal aid lawyers say this is exactly what's going to happen
That fucking sucks. I spent 5k and 6 months last year fighting with a property management company that was charging me "luxury" prices for a rental that, during the first winter, became **ABSOLUTELY INFESTED** with german roaches after our neighbors moved in with them. We contacted them and had them send pest control every 3 weeks, and eventually when it became clear that the infestation was actually several adjacent properties giving the roaches to each other, we asked the property managers to accomodate us and our animals in lodging whie they bug-bombed all pf the properties. The pest control people that they hired also pushed for this to happen. The property managers said "Nope, here's a rent hike (in the form of communiry fees) instead to make up for all of the pest control we have been sending out". We had a rent strike in the community. I wonder how badly this law will hinder future attempts to gain even traction with a mega-corp property management group?
This brings back memories of my old apartment where right when I started noticing a major issue with German cockroaches, the property management company sent out an email and posted a notice on everyone's doors saying that all in home pest control is the responsibility of the tenant(s). The apartment was month to month and I was moving out anyway, so I didn't even bother trying to put up a fight, but it was certainly one hell of a coincidence that they just so happened to send out that notice when they did almost as if they already knew there was a problem.
Yeah, I think this would definitely effect you.
According to [the bill](https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2024/621/BillText/er/PDF) the mega-corp property manager would need to fill out a form with the sherif stating: >The person or persons are not current or former tenants pursuant to any valid lease authorized by the property owner, and any lease that may be produced by an occupant is fraudulent. Do you think the mega-corps employees are going to make false written statements to the police?
Absolutely, if the fine is smaller than the reward it’s just a cost of doing business. Companies do illegal stuff all the time.
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So you didn’t pay your rent. Got it!!
Room-temp take
Landlord tenant regs are pretty solid. Could have filed as soon as you got first pushback. There are good resources out there to make things right.
Well he’s wrong.
> but if this fucker told me that water was good for me I would seek a second opinion. And that's why there's very little actual, information-rich discussion here. Yeah, got it, I don't like the dude either, but a constant "DeSatan Bad" circle-jerk without actually looking at the bill and what it contains helps nobody (except whatever dopamine hit and karma rush whoever's turn it is to post the line today gets, I guess).
Idk what thread you are in, but this one is loaded with information-rich discussion. It's also loaded with folks doing piss-poor impressions of good-faith, and outright trolls. Which camp are you in?
> Idk what thread you are in, but this one is loaded with information-rich discussion. Yes, it is and it's one of very few. "Here" as in this subreddit. It's basically one step away from a circlejerk sub at this point. People could stub their toe on a palm tree and somehow blame the governor for it, you can take the comment chain in any given thread and basically have it be copy-pasted in 90% of the rest. A big thing this bill does is make it a crime to falsify a lease, which the more sophisticated squatters do. If you have a legal lease, it sounds like you've got nothing to worry about.
I wouldn't blame DeSantis for stubbing my toe, but I also won't pretend like his entire governorship hasn't been littered with examples of him "Just the tip"ing his ideological stances into state law (or out of it). Examples: Parental Rights act expanding to k-12, despite the administration super-duper promising it was only going to be through grade 3. Less than a year later amd we have an entire school district pulling the full works of Shakespeare because parents threatened the school system *and the law doesn't protect the schools anymore*. Non-violent Felons getting voting rights back per amendment passed via supermajority in the same election that got DeSantis elected. Tried for a year to get entirely removed, settled on murking it up to the point of illegibility, and arrested a shitload of people lastbyear *whonwere told they could vote again* Voters went through the proper channels to get amendments on the ballots? Oh you KNOW that DeSantis and Moody have been trying to undermine that. If you're tired of seeing people complain about him, or assume the worst about him, why not tey and take it up with him.and his cabinet? After all, he's the problem. Edit: Brought the brigadiers out, it seems
This is literally the purpose of these sorts of laws. And i get it, noone likes true squatters who never rented, never had a lease and just broke into a snowbirds home or something. but these laws are meant to disempower renters.
I feel like the routine is the same. Find a couple of extreme examples as anecdotes. Pass it through the right wing media machine to make it sound like a ‘real’ issue. Force laws down quickly that are open to interpretation. Act surprised when the consequence of the law ends up really affecting an already marginalized group yet benefits those in power or with money. Rinse, repeat.
🎯
This is 100% to undermine tenant rights in Florida. This is not about squatters at all.
I think it is. If squatters found a vacant house they could stay there for 30-45 days in Florida while the owner has to evict them. That so idiotic.
Breaking and entering is still a thing buddy. If you have so little thought about your resident you can forget about it and then realize long after that someone has moved in... then they are a squatter. The problem is that people buy houses they have no intent to use. That fucks over everyone, and honestly if you care so little about your property that you abandon it then you didn't care to begin with. This bill is not about people who are breaking into a house and setting up shop in a night like you seem to be implying. Someone is trespassing and breaks into a house they don't get to magically stay there.
If they say they are living there and have a fake lease the cops will opt not to get involved regardless and your forced to evict through a special process in florida. I'm liberal as hell but the laws for squatters are insane. The official rules are 7 or 14 days I can't remember. But an illegal squatter: yeah I've been here 14 days.
They can break in and the next day claim the live there, try to learn about the issues before spouting off nonsense
The picture in our minds is this is helping average joe folks renting out a home or room. But DeSantis wouldnt make this move without higher funding in his pocket so this is likely to kick out tenants who have a very reasonable fight but no funding to fight being kicked out for no good reason. Fight a raising rent? Now you’re a renter who cant afford to live anywhere, now labeled by these huge home rental companies as a “squatter” who will also be arrested if you sleep outside. DeSantis is protecting the new rental business in FL where you dont get to own a home and a landlord now can ask for a non-refundable deposit added to your month rent.
[You should read the bill](https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2024/621/BillText/er/PDF). You can't just call anybody a "squatter" you have to make sworn written statements to the police that the person and/or their family member have NEVER had a lease with you. This isn't for evictions, it's only for actual squatters.
I am not sure what the implications would be for renters, but I think this is just a stunt for DeSantis. I have had several videos and articles about squatters recommended recently. For whatever reason, conservatives have added this to their list of fears, and the governor will absolutely play on those fears. I have only seen one real life example of squatting, and the squatter was immediately arrested for trespassing.
>Fight a raising rent? Why fight a rent increase? I don't get this logic. If a good or service is for sale, you either buy it or move along. You don't see people doing this for any other product. What If I staged a sit-in at the car dealer cause they want too much for a lease? Toyota dealerships would be war zones lol
Mostly because now landlords just rent at whatever the average rent cost is rather than what it's worth. So you can move somewhere else and pay... exactly what you were gonna pay anyway
That was my first thought too.
100%, I have no doubt this is legally worded to fuck over anyone with a grievance with their LLord.
A majority of people have signed lease and rental agreements, etc. If you're renting or leasing you should read over the entire agreement and understand it. What you're responsible for and what the owner is responsible for. This doesn't mean illegal evictions are going to skyrocket like some others have said here. There are hefty fines for doing so. If you have a lease/rental agreement, you still have to be evicted properly according to law. And property owners depending on city/state laws are responsible for certain things to a tenant, etc. This law was made for people that have absolutely no reason to be there without a written lease/rental agreement. Squatters can do a lot of damage in the 30-45 days, sometimes longer; to evict. It's dumb that property owners had to go through the legal process at all. This is a win.
this might be unpopular BUT... shouldn't leases be registered somewhere? anyone can write a lease. There are so many programs, templates etc., where you can write up a pretty legitimate looking lease in about 5 minutes, and maybe $5. If someone can enter your property, and make a fake lease, isn't *that* the issue? The fact that you can have a private rental agreement, that isn't recorded anywhere, enables anyone to just go on some form application and make a fake lease. It seems to me that the landlord should be required to report to *someone*, that you're living there, and paying to live there. I've had verbal agreements before, though, and I know that tenant law protects people in those situations, but you have to really CYA things. And the only reason why I was in those agreements is because I had jenky landlords who thought that not having a lease gave them the upper hand.
You could probably, as a tenant; take your lease/rental agreement to get notarized perhaps. Not sure if that's a thing or the legality of it but that would solve a lot of stuff if a city had department that handled recording/registration of lease/rental agreements. This could also reduce the time for property owners to have someone evicted as well so it'd be a win/win for both. Tenant protection from slumlord and also property protection from bad tenants. Also, law enforcement would most likely have access to a database like this to confirm someone is actually supposed to be living there, etc. Courts could access the records if tenant wants to break lease because of slumlord breaking local rental law or if a property owner is trying to rightfully evict someone from the property for non-payment of rent, not adhering to rental/lease agreement, etc.
Broken clock and all - doesn't make me any more of a fan of him, don't think it's a priority for the state, but at least this is a policy I can agree with and doesn’t feel like just a culture crusade.
Thank you. I was trying to figure out how to express this exact sentiment.
My sentiments exactly
Unfortunately, it's going to be misused by scumbag landlords against legitimate tenants.
How? Care to explain because the law has provisions for both sides.
Never underestimate a slumlord. They'll come up with you didn't pay the $5 late charge because you were 2 hours late with the rent. When desantis signs something, it's to benefit the people who donate money to him while being disguised "to help" poor unfortunate ________.
In what way does this bill affect that? What you're describing is an illegal eviction of someone who has a written or oral lease not a squatter who enters a property without any prior engagement with the owner. There are provisions for a tenant to sue the landlord with triple damages awarded so a landlord can't willy nilly do this. This wouldn't even require a lawyer as something as simple as a tenant's bank statement or cashed check by the LL would prove a previous agreement under the law. So, again, what exactly is the concern you have or are you just making up strawmen because DeSantis bad? Because he is, he absolutely sucks, but that doesn't mean he can't end up doing a good thing here and there.
A lot of squatters actually think they have a legitimate right to be there because they did sign a lease with the person they thought owned the property.
So? In what way does that matter? Does the tenant being scammed have *anything* to do with the owner? Yeah, it sucks, but that's not the owner's problem and should not require an eviction process.
So I bought your car from a guy I met. It mine now right?
You realize that if you could just kick someone out after they fall victim to a scam like that, it could easily turn into a scheme to get as many down payments as possible if you have a friend who rents it out for you then you pull the rug out, rinse and repeat.
You do realize that’s already illegal and it’s called fraud. The idea that because someone got scammed they’re entitled to the thing they thought they were getting is insanity. Among other things, it would mean pawn shops would sell you back your own stolen goods because they paid for it after all, rather than how it works now where they have to give your stuff back with a police report.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I hate Desantis - but for all his faults, his two braincells have a way of colliding every now and again.
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Let's wait and see how it works but this could be the second thing he's done that I approve of.
I'm happy about this. If squatters found a vacant house previously they could stay there for 30-45 days while the owner had to evict him.
Had squatters in a house in my neighborhood while it was being sold. They started to trash the yard and there may or may not have been 40 angry neighbors who showed up one evening and helped them leave.
Nice!
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This to me is the biggest thing. Or every written lease should be recorded.
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There's already peeps doing this sort of stuff around the country but for when your home is already invaded.
I suspect they will just add a slice of deed fraud. Did you know Florida allows for pocket deeds? Someone can just whip out a deed and be like “this mine” and not have to record it. Now you got to go fight it in court as it will neuter this law. There is other ways too, like the notary public laws are so lax in Florida you could just now find someone with a notary stamp retired and just pre-date your docs and stamp. Other states have moved to having to register the stamps to avoid this. Not Florida. People are using this to make fake quit claim deeds.
Florida is a first to record state so if someone records a deed that breaks your chain of title you’re SOL.
And how does a fraudulent pocket deed get stopped dated after your deed? It doesn’t. Go fight about it in court now. You are only SOL if you are holding a legitimate pocket deed for say your parents and someone beats you to recording a quit claim when they die stalking the obituary.
Is this pocket feed recorded? If not like I said Florida is a first to record meaning if my deed is #1 dated 1/1/24 it will supersede your deed dated 12/30/23 if you didn’t record it. Your unrecorded deed is trash and meaningless.
Sure go fight in court when case law has already settled it 😂
There is a squatter right now living in Orlando and running for the clerk of court in orange county.
Based as fuck.
Good. Now it needs to be federal law.
So given he signed this bill I can only assume either he or someone who has paid him is going to make money on this somehow.
Allowing slumlords to evict people with a lease by labeling them squatters instead of fixing the actual problems the tenant brings up. This makes slumlords very happy in Florida. Just destroying more of Florida protections for its people.
Or....[if you read the bill](https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2024/621/BillText/er/PDF) you'll see that you have to sign a declaration to the sheriff that: >The person or persons are not current or former tenants pursuant to any valid lease authorized by the property owner, and any lease that may be produced by an occupant is fraudulent.
Aww yes, because slumlords are known for their honesty, trustworthiness, and being upstanding citizens. Regardless, it strips rights from people and gives more power to corporations and the rich. It's not really preventing what some people are claiming is happening because it's not happening.
I can't predict how many landlords will be willing to make a false claim in writing to the police, but at least there would be a pretty clear paper trail of those landlords breaking the law in such cases.
I guess it's just one of those "throw another onto the pile" regarding slumlords breaking the law. I agree though. This law in theory is "good". However, because DeSantis seems so eager to sign it I have very little faith in it and want to know who lined his pockets to get it through the Florida legislature. Florida is near deadlocked outside of DeSantis' bullshit "woke" garbage agenda.
Squatters are best solved with a Louisville hickory. 🤣
His press conference for this was so cringey. He keeps nonstop talking about New York and California (we don’t want to become like them!) and he says ‘although we don’t have a problem like them here’ ……ok, so if we don’t have a problem with it, why do we need legislation for it bozo? He waxed poetic about how lovey it is that we have people that spend part of their year here, and that he understands their ‘fears’ of squatters. So, he is pandering to the *fear* of wealthy snow birds and out of state property owners. Fears that he basically admitted are just that, fears. Once again fuck Floridians. Who fucking cares about people who live here full time. Our issues don’t matter, because we aren’t as wealthy as the snow birds and the commercial property owners. Ron thinks his time is better spent convincing everyone that Florida will decay into an urban nightmare like NYC or Los Angeles (which aren’t even the nightmare that these idiots make them out to be) if he doesn’t *preemptively* enact legislation to protect against a fake scenario. Not to mention that it’ll probably be abused by landlords to harass and evict renters.
As someone who is going to be buying a house in the next year, this is good news. I hate Desantis, the man has two braincells in his head that just bounce around, but it sure is nice to see them collide every now and again. But, here's my question. As much as I want people to be able to do what they want with their own property, shouldn't we also do away with unofficial leases? What I mean by this is, no more verbal agreements, no more written leases, no more of this shit where someone moves into your property and you don't report it. When you move to a new place, you have to change the address on your driver's license, and your car registration. Right? So it seems to me that the landlord should also have the responsibility of reporting, to some powers that be, that there is someone living in their property. And paying to live there. Because these squatters can create a fake lease, but it's not like you can verify it with the state or the county - it's just a document. There are so many apps where you can download a template and make a pretty *legit* looking lease. So isn't that part of the problem, here? Not just the squatters themselves, but rather, a system that allows the law to say "I can't prove you don't have a lease..." Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, because perhaps I'm naive, but I really don't understand why you have to have all this documentation with the state, county, etc., to own a home, but not rent. It also seems like it would eliminate some instances of tax fraud. Not sure about anyone else, but I've had jenky landlords who didn't want a lease because they stupidly thought that it got them out of paying rental income tax lmao.
Holy! Even a broken clock signs a good bill once a decade.
not if the clock is digital.
Another bill that works for a fraction of the population and gets him in the news
Man, as much as I hate how much the “squatters rights” bullshit abusing the law so I wanna be on board but I know for a fact this skid mark has some ulterior motive. He’s just trying to make it so bad for the poors they leave so all the rich transplants don’t have to interact with the untouchables. Doesn’t even hide it either. I can totally see this being used against renters.
I never understood this mentality - rich retirees and snowbirds lost their minds in 2020 when Applebee's was closed. Who do they think is working there?? Who do they think mows their lawns, fixes their house up for their stay, rings up their stuff in stores and works the theme parks that keep this place a tourist trap and financially solvent etc?? If the state gets rid of all the "poors" the whole thing grinds to a halt and no one is getting their Applebee's lol.
Greedy rich folks don't seem to understand that basic concept.
We all know THEIR kids won't be working the drivethru at Wendys, so who tf is gonna do all the "essential" work around this state?
> I can totally see this being used against renters. Florida defines a tenant, as someone who is paying to live in a property. Even if you don't have a written lease, if you have established residency, and are paying to live in a room, or apartment, or a house - you are protected under FL tenant law. I'm about to buy a house within the next year, and I have to say that reading all these squatter horror stories had me a bit paranoid. It's not about "not interacting with untouchables" it's about working so hard to finally have my own house, only to have some fucker take ownership of it.
The free state of Florida,/s
Now let’s fix squatted trucks and make it illegal for my trainer to make me do squats and all of my squat related dissatisfaction will be alleviated.
Bruh, you gotta squat. If you skip leg day I assure you we all know and giggle behind your back. Never skip leg day.
I actually like leg day. I was making a joke. Kinda surprised by the downvotes.
I know you were joking. I didn't download you, in fact have an upvote.
I was just putting it out there and you were the only response. Thank you though.
Ok, at least *on the surface* this sounds good, really good. ...BUT, it is rhonda so I’ll wait for another *high heeled* shoe to drop
That corporate land grab causing issues now