The Landlord Lens - Squatter's Rights

Episode Date: January 13, 2024

Squatter's rights, also known as adverse possession, is a legal doctrine that allows a person to gain ownership of land by occupying it for a set period without the owner's permission. In this episode of Be A Better Landlord, Krista and Jonathan explain how squatter's rights work and what landlords can do to protect themselves.

I'm Jonathan and I'm joined by Krista and today we're going to help you be a better landlord. All right, Krista, let's talk about squatting. Every landlord's, actually every homeowner's, worst nightmare, but what actually is squatting? Yeah, well, you know, it comes up a lot with our audience, especially because landlords are most at risk for squatting. Squatting refers to when someone comes into an unoccupied property looking to take it over. It's also called adverse possession. and usually there are very specific requirements dictated by your state and county that explain when a person can take over your property. But if you have multiple properties, you're an established landlord and one of them is empty, you are at risk.

Yeah. And if you read about squatters, there are tons of news stories that seem almost too crazy to be true. How even does this happen? How does somebody take adverse possession of your property? Of course, first it starts off with an empty property. Maybe you've had a great tenant his left and you're trying to fill the unit. These folks are going around. They're trying to find spaces that they can get in and stay.

Sometimes that's for even more illicit activities like cooking drugs or doing other nefarious things. So they want to find a property that's empty. They get in. And at that point, they just live there as if it's their own. So it's not uncommon for there to be vandalism or thefts going on when there is a squatter in the mix. usually your state is going to say if they stay there within a certain amount of time or for a certain amount of time uninterrupted and they fulfill these other requirements, they can then take over the property and it becomes theirs. They own it through adverse possession, which is very scary.

Absolutely. Somebody's taking your property is crazy, especially if they can do it by just literally squatting in it. So you mentioned that state laws differ quite a bit with squatters rights, but like how long of a period of time are we talking about? It's usually quite a long time, right? This isn't something where they're in there for a week and then it's their property. Because Squatters' rights is a bit of a misnomer. They are breaking the law. It does turn over and they can possess a property once it's been abandoned, but that

abandonment period takes a while. So, for example, in Colorado, the period of time that someone has to stay in an unoccupied property in order to adversely possess it is 18 years, 18 years. 18 years. And that's 18 years uninterrupted. If they leave, that period starts over again. So really, this is someone getting in there and staying. So it is quite, and that's not the only requirement either. That's just the biggest one is going to be the amount of time, which is why you have to be really careful and follow due diligence in order to make sure that your properties are safe. Okay, so they need to do their due diligence. What does that look like?

Yeah. So first of all, this does affect. unoccupied property. So if all of your properties are filled, you don't have to worry, but I will recommend that you take some of these steps because they are just best practice in general. So first and foremost, that means conducting regular inspections, especially if you have an unoccupied property for longer than, let's say, a month. I would be going around to make sure that all of the locks are good. There's no damage to the windows or any entryways. You want it to seem like that property is not unoccupied. You want it to make it, you want it to appear that someone is in there, because that deters potential squatters from wanting to run the risk of running into them. To that end,

keep the utilities on when you have an unoccupied property. So don't be afraid to leave a light on. Keep your water up. You want to make sure that from the street, someone might look at it and say, oh, I'm not going to try and break in because something's going on in there. Make sure you're collecting the mail, collect the newspapers. And otherwise, just make yourself a regular presence there as well as letting the neighbors know. So this really only works if you have neighbors that you like and trust. If you suspect that your neighbors might break in and start squatting, don't tell them that it's unoccupied. But if you can trust them, if you've built a community where that kind of thing is, you know, acceptable in terms of conversation back and forth, let them know that it's unoccupied.

You're finding someone and ask them to let you know if they see anyone who's not you breaking in or otherwise occupying the space because that will be your first sign that you need to take action. Yeah. You mentioned collecting the mail. You mentioned paying utilities. Property taxes are paying those property taxes is a big part of squatters rights, right? Absolutely. Absolutely. Under no circumstance should you not pay your property taxes, especially in the realm of squatters rights, because one of the ways that many states allow someone to take adverse possession over a property is when the property is considered abandoned. If you're not paying property taxes, that's one way for your property to be considered. abandoned. And at that point, if they start paying the property taxes, especially if they do it over a set period of time, like 18 years, it's going to become their property. That would be an obvious sign that it's no longer the property owner's space and someone else is coming in and taking it over. So usually, although this is going to sound funny, one of the requirements for someone to be able to

take adverse possession is having an obvious presence in the unoccupied, otherwise unoccupied property. So do your due diligence, make sure you're paying your bills, keep up with what's going on in an unoccupied unit, and try and fill it as soon as possible. So what should I do if I suspect that I have a squatter already in my property? Yeah. So first of all, I would once again make sure that you're popping around if you see something when you're doing one of these frequent visits. Don't feel like you need to confront them by yourself. In fact, absolutely don't do that. It can be very dangerous. And also, it's just really not your place to put yourself in the mix. That can get very high. carry. So what I would do instead is I would either contact law enforcement and let them know, hey, I think someone is broken into my property. Or I would start talking to my neighbors and try and figure

out like the situation at large. You are likely going to have to turn over a, either a writ of possession or otherwise file some kind of paperwork to let the person know that this is your property and they do not have any legal right to be there. Once you issue that, law enforcement can be even more helpful in coming in and removing the person as needed. But you do need to make sure you're not confronting them yourself and that you have your documentation lined up depending on what's required in your state in order to fully get them out. It strikes me that home automation may be a really useful thing in this situation. If you know your property is going to be vacant for a little while, putting in some lights that are automatic or on a timer, you know, they turn on at sunset,

they turn off the, I don't know, sunrise. Sure. Also cameras. Yes. Cameras. Yes. Cameras to be able to see if people are coming and going. That's obviously a dead giveaway if you are not actively renting. I would say absolutely. If you have the space in your budget, having something like a ring camera that's on your front door and maybe your back door, anything that gives you more information about who may or may not be coming through, one, it's great peace of mind for you. But two, if somebody does attempt to squat in your residence, you then have proof and you can build up a case that eventually leads to them getting kicked out and you do not have to worry about them anymore after that. So how can software like Turbotinent help you avoid squatters? Yes. So

biggest issue with squatters is the fact that there is a vacant property. TurboTenant helps you fill that vacancy. But not just with anyone, you can screen your tenants and make sure you're finding someone who's a good fit for your property, who's going to abide by your rules and be a great asset to the community. So to that end, you want to make sure that you're marketing your vacancy, and we can help you do that and push it out across dozens of different syndication sites. So All of the popular ones can get your listing up there, make sure that tenants are seeing it. And then from there, you can actually take a prescreener. So you can ask some basic questions.

Make sure that they're a good fit before you waste any of your time going back and forth or waste any of their time. Once they pass that stage, send them an application. You get the whole gambit of their eviction history, criminal history, lines of credit, etc. You could determine if they fit based on your specific criteria. Once they do, you move them in. you feel secure because you know who's moving in and you have thus squashed the squatter, more or less. Squash the squatter. That's what we do here at Turbotta.

That's the goal. Okay, so let me flip the table here and say that I, my goal is to become a squatter, and I'm going to move into somebody's property. I'm going to take adverse possession of it. Wow. How do I do it? Walk me through the steps. What I need to do. my crime hat. Okay. So first what you would do is you would find an unoccupied property. You would

break in. And you would need to plan to stay there for quite some time. So we are in Colorado. With Colorado laws, you have to be there, like I said earlier, for 18 years, uninterrupted. Not only do you have to occupy the property for 18 years, but you also have to make sure that it's obvious that you are occupying it. So that means taking over the property taxes. That means if the owner comes by, you're there. Like you're not necessarily trying to hide yourself because really the court's going to look at this and say, how clear was it that somebody was living here and the owner didn't take any action? Okay. So it has to be obvious.

It has to be hostile, meaning you don't have any right to be there. There's no right to be there. You are just breaking in and taking it over. One of the most stringent requirements for squatter's rights is the amount of time that the squatter is possessing the property without interruption. typically. So here in Colorado, it's 18 years. That's a long time. That's a very long time. And you might wonder, how does the property owner not know that someone's in the property for 18 years and paying the bills? So remote landlords are especially susceptible to this. That's why, whether you're in state or out of state, you need to make sure you have some kind of eyes on unoccupied units as much as possible

on a regular basis. And they can check for signs of squatters like, you know, more cars in the driveway. than what should be, especially if it's unoccupied, mail piling up and it has names that you don't recognize on it, people in the property when you're on the street and you know you haven't rented it out to anybody. Okay, so we've been talking about squatters actually living in a property, but what about land or a vacant lot? Does this apply there to? It does. It does. So again, they're going to be state-specific requirements for adverse possession to come into play with vacant lots. But what you should do if you have a vacant lot is one, make sure that it has some kind of fencing around it. You're also going to want to put up a sign like a no trespassing sign, really making it clear

that no one is supposed to be there. Equally, you want to make sure that you keep eyes on it and are present in some regard, right? You're going to be looking out for an excess of trash. Any kind of signs of someone living there, there might be temporary housing there, like, you know, a tent or some kind of structure where people are sleeping. And at that case, if you see that's happening, once. again, you don't approach the person, you want to make sure that you either get your writ of possession or a notice to vacate, sent to them. But do your work to make sure that it's as difficult as

possible for someone to adversely possess your property or lot. Okay, so to conclude, what should landlords be doing to make sure that squatters don't end up in their properties? Best practice in general when it comes to landlording is to make sure that you regularly have eyes on your unit. This is just one more reason why you need to be conducting regular inspections, have a good relationship with your tenants and your neighbors, and of course, make sure that you're aware of the different kinds of crimes that can be committed with an unoccupied property so that you know what to look out for in your specific area. All right, Krista, well, thank you for walking us through Squatters' rights. If you out there have any questions about squatters or you have personal experiences you want to

share, leave them down below in the comments, and don't forget to subscribe. TurboTenant is the all-in-one platform for landlords to manage their rental properties. From vacancy to tenancy, we have you covered with industry-leading tools and expert advice. Landlord better from anywhere for free at turbotenant.com.