Homeowners in Florida can now defend themselves against squatters

Florida landlord Patti Peeples is the inspiration behind the anti-squatter law that Governor Ron DeSantis signed on July 1.

According to the American Apartment Owners Association, a squatter is any person who chooses to occupy a property or building to which he or she does not have a legal right to use.

Peeples said her experience with squatters began when she tried to sell one of her rental properties.

“About two and a half weeks after the house was listed, I received a call that two squatters had moved into the house, and that was my first contact with this burgeoning pandemic of squatting across the United States,” Peeples said.

Peeples said the two women who took over her rental property were notorious squatters.

“They had just been evicted from a house around the corner and they just walked out of the house in the middle of the night and moved in with me by breaking the realtor’s lockbox, drilling out the deadbolt and doorknob and replacing it with their own, using their own set of keys,” Peeples said.

During this long process, Peeples says she was harassed and physically attacked by the squatters. When she called the police to get the squatters out, the two squatters presented false leases, lied to the officer that they were the rightful tenants, and to her horror, the officer could do nothing.

She said that after she evicted the squatters, she discovered that they had hosted a “destruction party” in her rental property.

“They did $40,000 worth of damage to the house,” Peeples said.

Peeples said Representative Kevin Steele and Senator Keith Perry decided to take up the squatting effort and criminalize it so it could be tried in criminal court rather than civil proceedings.

“It seems to me that most squatters are just trying to take someone’s home away from them,” said Stark (Republican of St. Cloud). “They’re not necessarily people who just need a place to live.”

The new House Bill 621 protects homeowners in the state of Florida from the dangers of squatters. According to the bill, property owners can now take immediate action by calling the police to remove trespassers from their residential property.

The bill states that the property owner must contact the sheriff’s office and file a complaint. Under penalty of perjury, he must list the relevant facts supporting the right to compensation. The sheriff can then confirm ownership of the property. After that, the sheriff is required to remove the unauthorized person.

“I think it’s problematic when people can just break into someone’s home and then (homeowners and renters) have all the trouble to get them out,” Stark said. “So this law solves that problem.”

Peeples said she was able to repair the damage caused by the two squatters and sell the house.

“It was an incredibly traumatic experience and I put my life in danger multiple times fighting to get them out because the law could not or would not do anything,” Peeples said. “I’m so thankful for this law here in Florida, otherwise people like me will take the law into their own hands and try to get these people out of their homes because the police won’t do it.”

For more information on HB 621, visit: https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2024/621 For information on an owner’s rights against squatters from the American Apartment Owners Association, visit: https://www.americanapartment-owners-association.org/property-management/latest-news/squatters-rightslaw/