Why Don't We Blog This?

A post by System D

An only-in-Detroit news item buzzed about the internet today: Fox reported that a woman is being forced to live alongside a squatter in her own home, the squatter is refusing to leave, and cannot be evicted by force.

Oh, also the squatter is a write-in candidate for president because Detroit.

There are a lot of ins, a lot of outs, a lot of interested parties in this story, of course, and I don’t care to rehash everything here — or speculate on which parts of the Fox story are worded weasel-ey to get a rise out of readers, and which are just poorly written.

I thought it might be good, though, to provide some useful information on squatter’s rights. Here is a link (WARNING: It is a link to a PDF!) to a document titled “’Squatter’s’ Rights in Detroit: A Legal Analysis.” It includes such useful tidbits as this:

“Generally, “squatters” fall into two (2) categories. “Squatters” are considered: (1) people who occupy what would otherwise be vacant or abandoned homes without the permission of the owner and (2) people who once had a legal right to occupy a home, but subsequently lost that right by defaulting on their mortgage or lease.”

Distinction! Good to know.

Hopefully it provides some helpful information and, should you find yourself in a similar situation to the aforementioned lady, you know you have an alternative to the most popular suggestion in the news story’s comment section:

“Squatters? Walk in, shoot them, call the police and say that someone broke into your house. You walked in during a home invasion. Problem solved!”