Squatters Are Re-Victimizing Americans, and Our Laws Are Letting Them

By any reasonable standard, if someone breaks into your home, they should be arrested. If someone moves onto your fire-ravaged land and sets up camp, they should be removed. And if someone forges a lease or claims rights to your property without a shred of ownership, the law should be on your side.

But in California and much of the country, that’s not how it works.

Just this past month, videos posted by Luke Melchior of Melchior Construction went viral, showing California families who lost everything in the January wildfires now facing a new nightmare. In Melchior’s videos, you see trailers and makeshift shelters appearing on their burned-out lots. In some cases, neighbors say people have moved in without permission. Law enforcement reportedly told concerned residents they would need to pursue civil action, meaning these families now face spending thousands of dollars and waiting months just to reclaim what is already theirs.

While there may be disputes about whether these incidents involve squatters or are tied to unresolved family matters, “Off camera, a member of the LASD tells FOX 11 the two cases in Melchior’s video are family-related property disputes. However, they also say since January they have responded ‘quickly’ and confronted ‘a handful’ of squatters in Altadena” – Fox 11 News, Los Angeles. 

The core issue: What rights do homeowners truly have when their land is taken over?

This problem isn’t limited to California.

In Illinois, state representative Marcus Evans watched as squatters took over his next-door neighbor’s home. The property had just been listed for sale when the locks were changed, and a squatter family moved in, claiming it was theirs. Despite video evidence and the homeowners’ pleas, police once again said nothing could be done without a court-ordered eviction.

New York saw a homeowner, Adele Andaloro, arrested, not the squatters, when she changed the locks on her own home.

How did we get to a place where criminals are given the benefit of the doubt while law-abiding Americans are forced to prove they belong in their own homes?

Adding fuel to the fire: During the height of the Biden Administration’s border surge, when 100,000 to 300,000 illegal migrants were crossing the United States border each month, a frustrated Latino community watched in disbelief as Venezuelan migrant Leonel Moreno, known as “Leito,” posted a series of viral TikTok videos boasting about free government handouts and encouraging others to “invade” abandoned homes. He openly described squatting as a business model, claiming friends had taken over multiple properties and turned a profit.

To restore common-sense protections for property owners, California State Assemblyman Carl DeMaio introduced Assembly Bill 897 to allow property owners to remove squatters immediately. Yet, the legislation died in the first committee. 

Opponents of AB 897, such as Housing California, said the bill would worsen homelessness, and that mechanisms already exist to remove trespassers: “Rather than addressing the root causes of our state’s housing crisis, AB 897 would accelerate pathways into homelessness,” said Housing California. “Landlords and tenants currently have access to civil eviction processes designed to address unauthorized occupancy.”

“Accelerate pathway into homelessness”?!? What about the rights of the property owner? The rightful owner?

Should families be forced to spend thousands of dollars and wait months in court just to reclaim what’s already theirs? That’s not justice, it’s bureaucracy protecting bad actors.

Thanks to the squatters moving in next door to Rep. Evans, Illinois just passed a law allowing police to treat squatters as criminal trespassers. It took a state lawmaker becoming a victim to finally prompt action.

California should follow suit. Protecting property rights should be non-negotiable. We cannot continue to let homeowners and working families be victimized by a system that caters to lawbreakers and burdens those trying to do the right thing.

We need to stop treating criminal occupation as a civil dispute and start treating it for what it is: theft. Let’s fix the law before more victims are created.

Squatting in California: Legal Loopholes, Real Consequences

Turbo Tenant: https://www.turbotenant.com/rental-lease-agreement/california/laws/squatters-rights/

Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles: https://members.aagla.org/news/squatters-have-become-a-major-problem-in-california-and-across-the-us

Goodlife Property Management: https://www.goodlifemgmt.com/blog/squatters-rights-in-california/

Los Angeles County Sheriff: http://shq.lasdnews.net/pages/pagedetail.aspx?id=3057