JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Property owners in Florida will gain more control over who is on their property soon.
A new law will crack down on squatting, drastically speeding up the process to have squatters removed, which is a relief for a Jacksonville landlord who dealt with the issue first hand.
“36 days," said Patti Peeples. "Let me tell you, that was 36 days too long.”
For five weeks, Peeples dealt with squatters on one of her rental properties in Springfield who just simply wouldn’t leave.
“They had issued themselves a false lease," she said. "That false lease immediately enabled them to stay in the house until I could take that case through the civil court system.”
While Peeples waited anxiously for a judge to rule in her favor, she says the squatters did $40,000 of damage to the inside of the home. “In some cases, and in some states, this goes on for years before it is heard by a civil court judge."
Lawmakers considered Peeples’ experience when they created a new Florida law, bringing some control back to property owners in squatter disputes, turning weeks into just days or even hours to get a squatter removed, according to Jacksonville Sheriff’s Officer Christian Hancock.
“It allows us to take more immediate action, where in years past, we couldn’t, because it was civil in nature," said Hancock. "Now we have a little more we can use to get folks out of those homes.”
He says the law doesn’t apply to tenants who previously had a rental agreement.
For example, if a tenant withholds rent due to a maintenance issue, the landlord will still need to go through the eviction process.
The law also has repercussions for landlords who try to take advantage of it to remove tenants they want to see evicted.
“It has threaded the needle in a way that is going to be fair for all parties," Peeples said.
The new law takes effect July 1. You can read the full bill here.
Landlords who want a squatter removed will have to start with a form, which JSO will have on its website once the law takes effect.
JSO shared a breakdown of the bill on Facebook: