Is FL squatter law distracting from bigger housing crisis?

Florida passed a bill this legislative session to end “the squatter scam,” as Gov. Ron DeSantis put it when he signed the measure into law in Orlando. Florida’s not alone in this worry that strangers are taking over people’s homes; Georgia and New York have introduced anti-squatter legislation, too.

The Florida bill, HB

621, which will allow homeowners to quickly remove people who illegally occupy homes, won overwhelming, bi-partisan support in the House and Senate. Property rights, it seems, is one of those issues that can bridge the turbulent waters of partisan politics in Florida.

Is there really a crisis of squatters? DeSantis certainly seems to think so. A number of high-profile stories from around the country have surely helped to fuel that perception, whether true or not. The case of Patti Peeples in Jacksonville got a lot of attention when she said she tried to sell a rental home only to find people living in it. They presented her with a fake lease; she videoed her encounters and testified in Tallahassee about how hard it was to make them leave. No doubt that was very persuasive to lawmakers.

And then there’s social media, the place where so many fears are fanned these days. There have been reports of videos being posted — by a Venezuelan immigrant in Ohio — advising people on how to take “adverse possession” of an unoccupied property.

Property rights plus immigration? “Squatters rights”? It all plays to the favorite right-wing theme that America is under siege from leftists, immigrants and criminals. Stoking fear is a powerful way to drive up turnout in elections.

There has been some pushback. The Washington Post published a story Wednesday that cast doubt on whether there’s much of a crisis at all, saying experts called the situation “extremely rare.”

Florida’s law, which goes into effect July 1, allows for a fast removal of those who take possession of a home illegally but it also has some safeguards. It specifies that the unauthorized person or persons being removed “are not current or former tenants pursuant to a written or oral rental agreement authorized by the property owner,” wording that is supposed to prevent the law from being misused by unscrupulous landlords who could view it as a shortcut for the regular eviction process.

That has allayed some concerns about the law. Florida Rising, a voting rights and organizing group, initially opposed the bill but now is “neutral” on it. But Cynthia Laurent, a housing justice campaigner with the group, told the Miami Herald Editorial Board that she worries the law still has the potential to place some vulnerable people at risk of being wrongly evicted, such as those who have what she termed “non-traditional” lease agreements, living long-term in hotels and motels. Forcing them out, possibly into the streets, would harm both them and the community.

Lawmakers in Tallahassee may intend to keep landlord-tenant disputes separate but will that really happen when there’s an allegation of squatting?

When DeSantis signed the bill, he said homeowners dealing with squatters on their property would now be able to call the local sheriff “and remove the people who are inhabiting your dwelling illegally. And that will happen very quickly.”

But, as usual, he couldn’t leave it there. “What passes muster in New York and California is not passing muster here,” he said. “You are not going to be able to commandeer somebody’s private property and expect to get away with it. We are, in the state of Florida, ending the squatter scam once and for all.”

So is this about “liberal” states or a real issue? In a state like Florida, where rent and housing prices and the cost of insurance have become serious problems with no solution in sight, this may be mostly an attempt to distract us from focusing on what really needs fixing.

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