Have you ever come back from vacation to realize that you have a new roommate that you’re stuck with for a couple of months? Doesn’t happen to very many people but these roommates are otherwise known as squatters - who have had rights to stay in peoples homes up to 6-10 weeks after being found.
Previously in Las Vegas, residents had to go through a strenuous process to get unwanted squatters from their homes. Per law, they had to follow the eviction process which can take 6-10 weeks to remove them from the home.
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Why on earth would this be legal? For one, the authorities don’t know how the person truly got into the home. Unfortunately if someone’s stuff is present in a home, they are a resident no matter how they got there. This is a violation of homeowners rights because it allows squatters to trespass and get a free home for a couple of months while they are being evicted.
Second, the law states you have to give a person a 30 day eviction notice. This is easy when it is a person you know or agreed to live with you. When they have to be forcefully moved, it goes to civil court. That is the process that takes so long.
According to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, over 5,000 homes in Las Vegas are projected to be occupied by squatters.
Squatters were abusing that rule until it became a crime in October 2015. After many complaints, there has been a law added for home breaking and unlawful occupancy. The first offense is a gross misdemeanor and subsequent offenses are class-D felonies. For subsequent offenses they can be jailed for up to four years and receive a fine up to $5,000.
Even with this new law, it continues to be a growing problem in 2016. Not only do they occupy homes of residents who are on short vacation but vacant real estate property.
Earlier this month a real estate agent, Scott Beaudry had an encounter with a squatter who claimed to have a lease. After telling them that they would file a squatting case due to the fact that there were no leases and she was occupying vacant property.
Since October, there have been over one hundred arrests involving squatters. The police hope that awareness continues to be spread and the numbers go down. This law should have been in act a while ago, especially for home owners. It is great that metro is cracking down and making these people realize that they cannot bend the rules.
