By Mark Zinman | Zona Law
There has been a lot of coverage on social media lately of squatters and their depriving property owners of possession of their property. Florida was the first state to address this issue and created a bill to expedite the process of removing a squatter. Arizona appeared to be following suit when the legislature passed a bill similar to Florida’s law, but it was vetoed by the Governor on April 23, 2024. Therefore, the bill is dead, and the issue of squatters continues.
When we say squatter, we are referring to a person without a lease (whether oral or written) who breaks into a home and claims they are a tenant or otherwise have a right to be there. A squatter is not a tenant who stays past the end of their lease, or a tenant who refuses to pay rent. We are talking about someone who has no legal right to possession.
We regularly see this with our single-family clients, who may have a vacant home on the market. When the owner goes for a showing to a potential buyer or tenant, they find that someone is living in the home already – they have beds and other furniture set up and refuse to leave. (Incredible we know, but it happens). Usually, the client will call the police to remove these trespassers, but if it looks like they established residency and live there, the police often claim it’s a civil matter and that the person needs to be evicted. The property owner would then have to serve a demand for possession and start the eviction process. Oftentimes, these squatters play legal games, making the eviction very expensive and timely. In other states where evictions can take months, this is especially devastating to property owners.
There have been numerous stories like this in the press and social media recently. There is a well-published case where a woman in New York was arrested after trying to remove squatters.
As a result of this press this year, Florida passed a law allowing a property owner to sign an affidavit saying that the person in the home is not a former or current tenant and has no right to be there. The police can then rely on that affidavit to remove the occupant. If a person is wrongfully removed, they have a right to sue the owner, but this gives the owner possession of the property in the interim.
Following Florida’s lead, the Arizona legislature passed a similar bill giving owners the same rights to sign such an affidavit. However, it was vetoed by Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs.
Therefore, the status of the law remains unchanged – if a property owner finds a squatter in their home, and the police won’t do anything, they will have to go through the full legal process to get back their property