The state of California faces many issues, but one that has taken center stage, right next to the migrant problem, is the indecent act of squatting, and Governor Gavin Newsom is hellbent on ending it before his state regresses to days of the Wild West. 

Squatters have recently become more emboldened thanks to legal ordinances supporting their alleged rights and making it hard for the owners to effectively drive them out. This controversial legality has led to more squatters showing up in places like California, Florida, and New York. 

The laws surrounding squatter rights could be clearer and more complicated. Every state in the country has a different set of laws affecting squatters. In California, it is not permitted by law to squat on property you don’t own, regardless of what state it is in. At the same time, adverse possession claims are also considered legal in the state.

California allows anybody who lives in someone else’s home for up to five years while paying property taxes to become the owner of the land in the eyes of the law. This law makes sense in theory but seems to favor the squatter more because many times such a case is presented before the court, the squatter has not been paying the property taxes and is often just trying to lengthen the duration of their stay or win on a technicality.

A landowner should have every right to eliminate a stranger using his property without permission. However, the law makes the process difficult, time-consuming, and expensive. Affected landlords must first give the squatter a three-day eviction notice, which can only happen if they get a mandated court order. Getting that court order is like pulling teeth; it can take months while draining funds. Of course, this depends on the country’s justice system.

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Squatters have become something of an epidemic in America, with the issue becoming more rampant in places like Florida, New York, Georgia, and even Texas, leaving affected landlords the unpleasant task of tossing these illegal occupants off their property. 

People in California are not happy about this, with some blaming Newsom’s lenient laws and others convinced that social media has more to do with it. There are now many profiles that talk about nothing but squatting and how to do it without paying rent. 

Some states have had enough of squatting. Areas like Georgia, Florida, and New York have decided to take deliberate steps to reduce and eventually eliminate the problem. In Florida, the governor, Ron DeSantis, recently signed off on House Bill 621, which will allow any landlord to get cops to remove a squatter from their property immediately.

Given how other states are responding to the squatting issue, many Californians wonder if the state government will join them in passing such laws. Unfortunately, the Governor has not presented any kind of bill that drastically alters squatters’ rights in the state. 

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While he did not pass drastic laws like New York and Florida regarding squatters, Governor Newsom approved Senate Bill 612. The bill allows landlords to request law enforcement assistance with squatters, but there’s a catch: They need to submit a no-trespass letter beforehand. That means affected property owners must still do paperwork before the cops can step in to help.

Thanks to laws that seem to have been created to please squatters, more landowners are turning to private companies specializing in eliminating squatters. These franchises cost them less money and produce faster results. 

It can be frustrating to need help from a private company to eliminate illegal occupants. Still, the cost of doing the unpleasant task will seem like peanuts compared to the thousands of dollars and time it will take to get the government involved. It also does not compare to how much landlords are losing in unpaid rent. 

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It costs landlords a lot of money, but that is not the only burden associated with the act. Many squatters just don’t care for the homes like they would as legal occupants. They leave it damaged and near impossible to live in, and even worse, some of them get violent in the process of eviction.

America prides itself on encouraging independence and freedom, which is one reason why laws regarding squatters are so lenient. Now, the people who have had to deal with or are currently dealing with squatters want the government to help. Residents of California would love nothing better than for Newsom to pass a law that will actually favor the landowners, just like some states have done recently.

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