Vacant rental homes can straight away become a source of great distress. When a tenant moves out and no new occupant is found as quickly as possible, these empty properties can attract unwanted attention. The empty spaces may look like an inviting opportunity for trespassers and squatters to find shelter. Without applicable oversight, what was once a vibrant home can very speedily spiral into an unrecognized, neglected shell, drawing in trouble and anxiety for landlords.
What is squatting?
Squatting applies 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. In addition, this situation can pertain also to former tenants who dwell 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 tiringly difficult to lease to new tenants. To competently prevent squatters, it is vital to secure your property. If you do not live near your rental home, you can choose to hire 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 don’t do anything to stop a squatter from settling, 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 complicated.
Another potential issue happens if a squatter manages to turn on utilities at the property in their name. In a number of areas, doing so can establish legal residency, since the squatter occupies your property without your permission. If this arises, the police may immediately classify the situation as civil rather than criminal.
If the police cannot assist you, the next reasonable action is to serve the unlawful occupant with an eviction notice. Merely providing this notice can consistently encourage the squatter to move out voluntarily. Still, if they refuse to leave, you may need to file an unlawful detainer lawsuit, which will introduce formal eviction proceedings.
The time duration of this process can vary depending on the efficiency of the court system in your state, taking anywhere from two weeks to several months. Once when you find a judgment in your favor from the court, you can, without hassle, enlist the local sheriff or police to remove the squatter on your behalf.
What to do with a squatter’s leftover property?
Just as soon as you have successfully evicted your squatters, you want to straighten out any issues with regard to personal property they may have left behind. Whether they left without being asked or were roughly removed, it’s comprehensible for them to abandon some belongings.
The following steps are under the laws in your area. In some states, you may dispose of these items without consequence. Yet, in other places, you will quite possibly be required to store their belongings in a storage unit at your own expense. If the squatters do not claim their property and repay you for the storage fees, you may have the right to auction off the items or dispose of them conditional on local regulations.
Handling squatters can be cumbersome and resource-intensive. To steer clear of this, proactive management is the essential key. At Real Property Management Perfection, we competently act on tenant move-outs and quickly fill vacancies. An occupied rental property is both productively profitable and free from squatters. For more invaluable details relative to our property management services in Forsyth County, please contact us online or call 336-510-9975.
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.
