As described in an earlier post, draft legislation has been presented in Clifton Park and Saratoga County to protect property owners from unlawful intruders. The public hearing has been held in Clifton Park and the County public hearing is upcoming. The Squatter Lobby has been tipped off that the legislation is moving forward and their general take on the issue is one that is fully expected. Comments such as the legislation is not necessary, squatters are not an issue, extremist elected officials following somebody’s playbook, etc. We expect these comments and indifference to any initiative that will be a remedy to the issue of uninvited, unwanted people who do not have a lease agreement in place unlawfully entering a home and taking control of a lawful owner’s valuable asset.
The one view or comment of particular importance we will hear involves the discussion about tenant rights and squatters. When the defenders of the squatters speak about the issue they speak in terms of tenant rights. They like to weakly explain how there are plenty of laws on the books involving tenants and landlords and legislation to curb squatters is not necessary. Injecting the topic of tenant rights into the conversation is intended to confuse the issue and promote the extension of tenant rights to property intruders. Yes, there are plenty of laws that cover tenants and landlords. In fact, each year NYS enacts new legislation that increases the risk for landlords making it less attractive to be in the business, particularly for small-time players. However, areas of the country that allow squatters to acquire tenant rights are inviting more incidents of this behavior. The Town and County legislation we are considering has nothing to do with tenants and landlords. Unlawful Intruders into your home do not have a valid lease agreement and were not invited to live with you. Therefore, they are considered unlawful at the first instance of their entry into your home and that unlawful status doesn’t change.
If someone has a lease agreement or a month-to-month tenant status, then yes there are laws that must be followed to have someone removed from a property. But, that is a far different scenario than the one identified and addressed in the unlawful intruder legislation.
As this process continues, beware the “expert” who speaks of squatter issues in terms of tenant rights. There is a whole industry out there that makes money on the churn of transactions. More chaos, indecisiveness and confusion=more churn.
Clifton Park and Beyond 