The Florida Legislature unanimously passed a bill that would allow police to immediately remove squatters — a departure from the lengthy court cases required in most states.
“It gives me a real feeling of positive hope that we still have the ability to discuss challenges in our society and work with our legislatures in a bipartisan way,” Patti Peeples, a Sunshine State property owner who was barred from her own home after squatters refused to leave, told News4Jax.
The legislation, which passed both chambers earlier this month, would allow police to remove squatters without a lease authorized by the property owner and adds criminal penalties. Landlords, under the current law, typically have to wade through a long and expensive legal process to remove squatters.
“Imagine for a moment that you leave from your day of serving the citizens of Florida as a senator and you return to your home,” Peeples told the state Senate Criminal Justice Committee in February. “But when you walk in, there are strangers sitting on your sofa, watching your TV, eating your food.”
“You ask who they are and what they are doing, and they tell you that they have rented this house and present you with a lease,” she continued.
An advocacy group, Florida Rising, initially opposed the legislation, fearing landlords could abuse the measures to quickly boot legitimate tenants. But the group took a neutral position after amendments were added to protect legal occupants, a spokesperson told News4Jax.
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