0 sats \ 5 replies \ @Undisciplined OP 26 Mar \ parent \ on: Squatters Rights? libertarian
You can, but you'd owe them damages.
My point is that the law has to make a presumption about who to side with. It's too complicated to expect a cop to adjudicate these messes on the spot, so they're either going to presume the tenant is legit or that they're trespassing.
The undisputed owner of the property is claiming the person is trespassing, so that's the reasonable place to start.
You can, but you'd owe them damages.
So you need to pay the squatters to get them to leave?
The undisputed owner of the property is claiming the person is trespassing, so that's the reasonable place to start.
How does the average cop verify if someone is trespassing? Renter has a piece of paper with lease terms on it, supposedly signed by owner.
The point I'm trying to get to, is that this entire problem lays with the inability to authenticate contracts.
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I'm saying that if you wrongfully evict a tenant, not a squatter, you would owe them damages, but you are presumed to have the right to remove people from your property.
The reason this needs to be the presumption, is precisely because the cops can't verify if the person is trespassing. The presumption needs to be on the side of the owner.
There will always be contract disputes, so there will always need to be a presumption of who's right while they get sorted out. The only reasonable presumption is to side with the owner.
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If the state (cops) automatically take sides of owner then that basically ends the purpose of a contract, since it offers almost no practical protection to a renter....
The bigger problem here is DoS-ing the legal system. Sure the police can evict someone today, but the same thing will happen tomorrow and the same squatter will do it elsewhere. It doesn't take much to grind the entire system to a halt....
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Private solution exists.
Hire a professional to shoot and kill squatter
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that basically ends the purpose of a contract
I disagree. The owner has something to lose in civil court and damages could be severe for contract breeches. If the cops don't evict tenants who aren't paying their rent, the exact same argument could be made about ending the purpose of a contract. Maybe that's part of your point though.
The bigger problem here is DoS-ing the legal system.
I agree and part of what bothers me about this issue is that the solution is pretty clear and very ugly. People will start violently reclaiming their homes from squatters and the likelihood that invading someone's home will get you killed will act as the deterrent.
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