Do free squatters have the same rights as legitimate renters?

Question

My sister let her dead-beat son and his family move into a vacant house she had for sale. He is living there rent-free with no lease. Immediately there were problems with damage due to the son & girlfriend fighting. They have not lived there for over 2 weeks now but refuse to remove their belongings. She has someone who is interested in buying the house but the son is telling her that no one can enter the property (not even her) as long as his belongings are there. That he is renting the house and has the same rights as a renter, even though no money has changed hands. Is this correct? To me, she should be able to remove his stuff and go on with her plans to sell the house.

Ohio is the state.

Answer 1

You should tell us the state.
In California it works like this
Call the Sheriff - he will decide whether this person was authorized to move in.
If not he will throw him out.
If authorized he will tell you to get him evicted.
If owner allowed him to move in and particularly if his furniture is there - they will probably tell you that you need to get hiim evicted.

Technically this is a forcible detainer as I recall, but people usually use the unlawful detainer procedures. If you are below a certain income an unlawful detainer is free - otherwise it costs about $200 for the judgment and $125 to get the sheriff to throw him out.

Takes 1-2 months to complete the process. Hard to believe - no?

First you give the person a written paper telling him to get out immediately. Wait 3 days. Then go to the court - get forms for a Summons and Complaint - fill them out and file at clerks desk. Have someone erve the person. Wait 5 days. If he did not file a response submit a form asking for a clerks default judgment. They give you judgment and a writ. Take writ to sheriff. Sheriff thorws him out.

ADDED
In california you can get into big trouble if you throw him out as some above suggest. Only the sheriff can throw him out in California.

ADDED
The person below me may be right in his state, but in California he is absolutely wrong. The message is this - find out the laws of your state. Go to the courthouse - get the papers for an unlawful detainer - they probably have an office that gives advice. Read a book - there is a whole shelf full of books on the subject at the big booksellers.

Answer 2

He did not trespass to take possession. She let him stay there. That makes him a legitimate tenant. The fact that he is not paying rent is irrelevant. Most people who get evicted are not paying rent either. She needs to follow the procedure for eviction (Unlawful Detainer) in her state. Generally, they need to be served with a notice to quit the premises. Then there will be a hearing, and the judge will issue an order in favor of your sister. After a certain amount of time, according to law, she can have a Sheriff or other authorized officer physically remove them.

Now, you mention that the house is for sale. Some states have special provisions for moving people out when a house is for sale that may make it easier.

EDIT:

In order to evict someone, you need to follow the proper notice procedure FOR YOUR STATE. Notices usually need to be served by a process server. Certified letters generally do not satisfy this requirement. I do not know what the law is in your state, but whatever it is, you can NOT take specific advice from people on this site. No matter how many people they may have evicted. Because every state is different.

EDIT: This person is NOT a squatter.

Answer 3

Here's how to handle this. Give the dead beat a 10 calendar day written eviction after receipt of a notice sent certified mail with a return receipt. In the notice, tell him that if he enters the premises after the ten day notice, he'll be subject to trespassing. After the ten day period, remove all his personal belongings and store them preferably in one of the local storage locations.. Pay for 60 days storage. Notify the deadbeat and make the belongings accessible to him. After 60 days, if he fails to claim his property, the storage company will auction of the container contents and everything is taken care of.
I own rental property and evict an occasional deadbeat and that's close to how I do it. Make sure you say 10 calendar days and not just ten days. Some judges go on business days and exclude weekends and holidays. Also, instead of using local storage, when I remove belongings from an apartment, I have safe, dry storage at the building I use. I have never had a problem.

Answer 4

Absolutely not. "Squatter's rights" haven't existed anywhere in the U.S. for well over a century, and they wouldn't have applied to this situation back then anyway unless he'd been squatting in that house for at least 7 years.

As long as you NEVER accepted a single payment from somebody living on your property, then he is legally only a guest. And if you have a guest who refuses to leave, he's nothing but a trespasser and an illegal occupant so you are perfectly free to move his belongings out into the yard and change the locks. Besides, in most states if even a legal tenant hasn't lived on the property for over 2 weeks (while at the same time not paying his rent), then the apartment as well as all contents are considered abandoned and you are allowed to walk right in and take possession of it.

Otherwise, if you ever anytime in the past accepted so much as a SINGLE dollar from your nephew for living there, then he does have rights as a tenant and you would not be allowed to use any such "self-help" methods to physically remove him from your property - you would then have no choice but to go to housing court to obtain an eviction order. Keep in mind, he might try to lie to the cops and claim that he did pay you some rent, but he obviously can't produce any receipts or cancelled checks so he'd be out of luck. Throw the bum out.

Answer 5

Not until they take official title through adverse possession. Curiously, you can be liable to them for injuries that they sustain on your property. IF THEY HAVE PERMISSION they do indeed have the same rights as a renter, and perhaps EVEN MORE than a renter.

Answer 6

An action in ejectment may be in order. The deadbeat son and his family have no rights.

Answer 7

It is possible that he is right, and it is possible that he is wrong. It depends on the jurisdiction.

She needs to speak to an attorney in her area either way -- to verify that he is right, or start legal action if he is wrong.

Answer 8

No.