Arizona has seen an uptick in squatters as snowbirds return to their homes during the fall and winter months.
The American Apartment Owners Association defines squatters as those who inhabit a piece of land or building without a legal right to occupy the space.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic saw a surge in tenant legal protections, some communities across the country have noticed more squatters.
By the time some homeowners find illegal residents in their property, the squatters often have gained legal rights as tenants by then. At that point, the owners must go through a lengthy process to get the squatters legally removed from the home.
Lennie McCloskey, constable of Manistee Justice Precinct in Maricopa County, Arizona, pushes open the door to an apartment he needs to evict tenants from on April 15 in Phoenix. The rates of squatting have grown in Arizona as snowbirds return to their homes in the fall and winter months.
FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images
Maricopa County officials told local station KTAR that snowbirds who leave their homes vacant in the summer are especially vulnerable to the squatters in the area looking for a free place to live.
“In the last year, Arizona has seen a rise in squatters taking over homes in neighborhoods where you have people living on either side of the home that they’ve taken over,” Constable Scott Blake told the station.
Especially in areas where neighbors aren’t well connected, a squatter can view a home as ripe for the taking.
“A lot of our neighbors don’t know who the other neighbor is, and that is an issue,” Blake said.
If homeowners find that a squatter has taken over their home, they are encouraged to immediately call police. However, if the squatters have lived in a home for a certain period of time, they may have gained tenant rights.
Some squatters are even prepared with fraudulent leases to show to police, leading to a long and often costly eviction process.
“If they produce a fake lease when confronted by law enforcement, that becomes a civil issue instead of a criminal issue,” Blake said. “That forces the homeowner then to do an eviction.”
To avoid squatters on your property, experts encourage never allowing your home to look vacant. That means you might not want to put a For Rent sign outside of the property, and you should use security cameras with motion sensors to keep an eye on what’s going on.
“Vacation and second homes are generally vacant a large portion of the year, and this is one of the basic targets for squatters looking for their next target,” nationwide title and escrow expert Alan Chang told Newsweek. “With no initial confrontation, snowbirds that leave their second home vacant for a huge part of the year make themselves vulnerable to this trending crime.”
Chang said to avoid having a loaded mailbox or a pile of delivered newspapers outside as this will make it obvious your home is unoccupied.
“Having an automated house where you can open and close blinds and turn on and off lights remotely gives the appearance that the home is occupied and therefore less likelihood you will be a victim of squatters,” real estate broker Pila Jessie of KHORR Realty told Newsweek.
