Beware of Squatters

: Betsy Mccaughey on Mar 27, 2024

In blue states like California and New York, is there hope for homeowners to get protection against squatters? Not from Congress. Democrats in Congress are actually pushing a federal housing law that would bar landlords from learning whether potential tenants have criminal records, including past squatting offenses.

But there is a remedy -- bringing a lawsuit in federal court against states like New York and California that fail to protect property rights. The U.S. Constitution enshrines property rights as a fundamental guarantee. And recently, the justices have struck down state laws that allow trespassers to interfere with property rights. In 2021, the Pacific Legal Foundation brought a suit on behalf of a property owner, and the court ruled in Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid that "government-authorized invasions of property" amount to a taking just as if the government had taken the property directly.

Favoring intruders over owners constitutes a "taking" that violates the Fifth Amendment, which says government cannot impinge on your right to your property.

There's no time to waste in acting to protect homeowners.

Venezuelan TikTok influencer Leonel Moreno claims invading vacant homes is the only option for illegal migrants flooding into the United States. His now-deleted TikTok video explaining how to identify a home that is empty and ready for the taking reached 4 million views.

Surprised? Don't be. Criminals from south of the border are coming in droves to plunder the far wealthier United States. Some cross illegally and are recruited by the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and El Salvador's MS-13. Others are coming in on tourist visas. Law enforcement is reporting a surge in South American burglary gangs operating in at least half the states in the U.S.

Of course many migrants are honest and hardworking. But there's no denying a movement northward to "take what you can get" poses new danger to homeowners, including the risk of squatters.

As Moreno says, "If a house is not inhabited, we can seize it."

Tell lawmakers to act now to protect homeowners. This is the United States. Here property rights are not up for debate. They're guaranteed in the Bill of Rights.

You worked for it, you paid for it, it's yours. Period.

========

Betsy McCaughey is a former lieutenant governor of New York and chairman of the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths. Follow her on Twitter @Betsy_McCaughey. To find out more about Betsy McCaughey and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

----