Can I circumvent the eviction process by starting a significant construction project in my property to force a squatter out?
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Can I circumvent the eviction process by starting a significant construction project in my property to force a squatter out?
I have a squatter in my empty property who is known to me but has never been given permission to occupy the unit. I have been told that I have to evict him. However, I was wondering if get a construction permit and start doing work, will this force him to leave?
Asked on April 12, 2012 under Real Estate Law, Florida
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
If the squatter has never been a tenant and has never owned or had an ownership interest in the unit or building, he is trespasser--the police should remove him for you. However, if the police refuse to do so, believing that his possession/residency needs to be resolved by the courts (they would be wrong, but it can be very difficult to convince them of that), the correct way to force the squatter out is an action for ejectment, which is legal proceeding for determing rights to property. (An eviction action, also known as a summary dispossess action, is only appropriate when there is a landlord-tenant relationship.) Once you bring and prevail in an ejectment action, court or sheriff's officers will remove the squatter.
Do NOT try to force him out with a contruction project. Not does a construction project have nothing to do with possession or occupancy, and hence would have no legal effect, but if he is injured by your construction, you could be liable to the squatter.
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