Squatters

[danielsilva]

hahaha, it will become a new 'thing' people coming over and sqauting for holidays!

 

Ahhh ... so the next time i want to attend Town Assault i won't need to go to an hotel, i just have to look around for an open door or window. Nice to know !!

[Pureownage]

Maybe if you told the police that you had RIFs in your house which you feared could be used by the squatters for nefarious purposes that could help kick the police into gear?

[col.parsons]

Due to the technicalities of "English" Law (also covers Wales, but not Scotland), the definintions under the headings of "Burglary"/"Theft"/etc. preclude the authorities from taking legal action with these squatters.

 

However... I would've thought that it would be a simple case of "Trespass", as they definitely did not have the right to enter the property, nor have they been granted it. As such, they are trespassing - which is an offence - and for which they can (and should!) be punished!! Granted, this chap can't be in too much distress if his property is worth £700k and he's a hotelier, but that's not the point - the law's the gorram law!

 

And what these frickin Italian *students* haven't taken into account is... most (if not all) UK universities will chuck you out as soon as you get a criminal record, and if you've already graduated they can (and more likely will) quash your degree!! So all this expensive studying they're doing will be forenaught... Nobs!

 

 

[creepingfear]

Kill 'em.

 

Industrial incinerator (can be found on many a good farm).

 

Not even DNA survives (so I've been told......).

 

Simple.

[elrey]

"squatting is a civil rather than criminal offence."

 

That's *fruitcage* insane. Just...wow. Bizarro World!

[Habakure]

Correct me if am wrong, but that tresspassing law, got kicked out of existence several years ago. I don't agree with it being removed but it no longer exists. Criminal damage still does, regardless of how they gained entrance to the property (Be it your back garden or house). One broken glass or cup, you have the right to call the rozzers on those pesky squatters

 

Edit:- Okay, not kicked out of existence (Trespassing), but it is a trot/tort (Sorry I forget) type law, as in civil law. It only becomes criminal, as in enforcable by police, when in connection with another crime. Say braking a plant pot in the garden etc.

[Azubi]

even if the door was wide open, isnt it still 'breaking and entering'?

 

No. It's trespass which makes it a civil offense, not a criminal offense. If a door is unlocked then you can walk right in. You'll be surprised how often there is a way into a disused property without having to break in. Less so with houses but still. I could, in theory, walk into your house if you have left the door open and commit no crime. It's only when you ask me to leave and I tell you to shove it up your *albartroth* that it starts to become a crime in the form of aggravated trespass. The police could arrest you for being found in an enclosed space under the Vagrancy Act I suppose before they determined what you were really doing in there but I have yet to hear of it getting through the CPS unless the arrested person has been found in possession of tools determined to be for Burglary.

 

Squatting adds a whole other dimension to it aswell.

 

That's the way I see it anyway.

[shmook]

Cheers Azubi

 

Still f**ked up though...

 

Edit: stuntman, how much would you charge to 'resolve' this sort of situation? Might be handy to know, for future reference

[Azubi]

Maybe if you told the police that you had RIFs in your house which you feared could be used by the squatters for nefarious purposes that could help kick the police into gear?

 

No, they'd probably arrest you instead.

[Azubi]

I agree with the above

 

If i found people squating in my house well id 'forcably remove them' possibly with a shotgun (for threatening purposes only)

 

 

That's probably why they keep sending your application back.

[Scuffer]

Burglary requires them to not only enter a property (no damage needs to occur) but to then go onto: commit an assault, commit criminal damage or to commit a theft.

 

If it was my house I'd suggest that the minute that they use any of my utilities (gas/water/phone/electricity) I'd be getting proof from the Utility companies then attending a Police station and reporting a burglary (since they are in a property now commiting a theft) and also for unlawfully abstracting electricity and any other offences I can think of and I'd be doing that daily.

 

Failing that, it's my house - I'd have all the windows and external doors removed then crack out the garden hose, see how they like sleeping in my house once soaking wet and exposed to the elements.... Oh and if they boarded up any of the windows/doors they would no doubt damage the walls, so a report of criminal damage would go in for that aswell.

[Elliot]

Firstly squatting is against the law, BUT its against CIVIL law not criminal law (Except in Scotland).

 

Secondly "Squatters rights" it is only supposed to apply to empty properties NOT some ones home. if Somebody was living in the place immediately before you moved in (In other words if they went to work, on holiday, or down to the shops.) then they would legally be a Displaced Residential Occupier (DRO), in which case they can get the police to evict you, without needing any paperwork.

 

 

So this makes me wonder since the neighbours say nobody was living there for 2 years weather the bit about the owner going on holiday for 10 days is true, if it is then the police should have thrown the squatters out on their ears.

 

Elliot.

[hitmanNo2]

Given the fact they are dirty, filthy, squatting scum. I would say the comment about the owner not being there for two years was just a blatant lie.

[-Angel-]

It sounds like a selectively written story (who'd have guessed the daily mail would do such a thing?).

 

I'd hazard a guess that the place was being renovated over the 2 year period and he wasn't even residing at the property while it was done. The story even states that there is no power or running water, hardly a habitable property for an average person;

Theres no sink, no running water, no electricity, no carpets and the place was filthy. All of the owners stuff was packed away and stored.

 

So the guy goes off on holiday, taking a week off doing/supervising his redevelopment and on his return the squatters are in. As others have stated, its a civil matter.

 

On a side note, the level of internet heroism in this thread is incredible.

[Yeager]

Of course in the US you just call the police and say "I got locked out of my house so I shot the locks off and to my surprise there were a load of squatters in there (with bullet holes in them)".

 

Which is just the way I like it.

[-Angel-]

If you're going back into your home with the intention of shooting people, then its pre-meditated, yeah? Pretty sure the laws in the US protect a homeowner who shoots/hits/etc in defense of thier family/selves/property? Not someone going vigilante on squatters.

[QQexDERA]

Having seen the state they left a friends house in (not to mention the sheer cost of legal action to get the bastards out) i'd be sorely tempted to go the not-exactly-legal route to get rid of them if I found myself in that situation.

 

As to trespass, it's purely civil law in England and Wales. Which is why we have a problem with Irish pikeys in the UK. In the RoI they criminalised trespass, and lo and behold, an awful lot of pikeys decided they were better off in the UK than in the Republic. About time trespass was criminalised here as well if you ask me.

[col.parsons]

Having had a chance to wake up properly and get my bearings, this story really does sound stupid!

 

Agreeing with a few others here, there are a few things that stand out as being odd -

1) If this guy owns the property, why not break down the door and get them out? It's "his" door, so no "Breaking and entering" applies! Go in, chuck 'em out, job done!

2) If he wasn't living there immediately before this happened (which by the sounds of it he wasn't), why didn't he have the property checked regularly for security purposes? If it's being renovated, you don't leave it unattended/unguarded as this exact situation might occur?!

3) Why hasn't this been resolved without getting the papers involved?!? If the journos got in there, why can't the owner/the owner's "friends" to evict the squatters?

 

Utter nonesense!!

[L4byr1nth]

Isn't there some kind of provision under law for squatters, though?

 

I was under the impression that if they're in a certain place for a set amount of time, it becomes much harder to get rid of them?

 

Ben.

[kojak]

It sounds like a selectively written story (who'd have guessed the daily mail would do such a thing?).

 

I'd hazard a guess that the place was being renovated over the 2 year period and he wasn't even residing at the property while it was done. The story even states that there is no power or running water, hardly a habitable property for an average person;

 

 

So the guy goes off on holiday, taking a week off doing/supervising his redevelopment and on his return the squatters are in. As others have stated, its a civil matter.

 

On a side note, the level of internet heroism in this thread is incredible.

 

I dunno, it seems like they printed both parties' story somewhat responsibly in this case. Of course they can't both be telling the truth, but it stands to reason that a home under renovation would not look lived-in, but just because my neighbors claim I'm never home it's no excuse for a bunch of clowns to move in.

 

Internet heroism or not, I do hope they are tossed out from the house, their school, and then the country. "I can't find a job, so I moved into your house. I'll pay you some rent if I get some work"... what a load of badgeress. And why not pose for the cameras since they are clearly proud of sticking it to 'the man'.

 

 

Isn't there some kind of provision under law for squatters, though?

 

I was under the impression that if they're in a certain place for a set amount of time, it becomes much harder to get rid of them?

 

Ben.

 

Yeah my ears pricked up when I was reading that section of US property law a while back, when I was working as a surveyor and saw thousands of acres of abandoned property on a regular basis. Here, however, all the owner has to do is show up every ten years or so and all claims of abandoned property go out the window.

[amateurstuntman]

Internet heroism is one thing but you have to face the fact that some people will always be more comfortable on the fringes of legality than others.

 

As an INTJ / True neutral personality type I really would (in this case) consider taking the law into my own hands.

However I would only do it if I could eliminate as much risk as possible.

[intinerious]

Having had a chance to wake up properly and get my bearings, this story really does sound stupid!

 

Agreeing with a few others here, there are a few things that stand out as being odd -

1) If this guy owns the property, why not break down the door and get them out? It's "his" door, so no "Breaking and entering" applies! Go in, chuck 'em out, job done!

2) If he wasn't living there immediately before this happened (which by the sounds of it he wasn't), why didn't he have the property checked regularly for security purposes? If it's being renovated, you don't leave it unattended/unguarded as this exact situation might occur?!

3) Why hasn't this been resolved without getting the papers involved?!? If the journos got in there, why can't the owner/the owner's "friends" to evict the squatters?

 

Utter nonesense!!

 

For 1), I'm pretty sure they can sue for trepass to the person (battery and possibly assault). My tort law's a bit rusty at the moment...so I won't be quoting any relvant law in establishing the tort.

 

There's actually a case very similar to this one that's often quoted in tort law books....something about squatters and renovation. Don't remember the case name though, sorry ><; I think i remember it was the woman property owner suing the town board or some town authorities in not protecting her property from being invaded by squatters....generally cited under duty of care, I believe.

 

Then there's also criminal charges if you try to chuck them out with force. Haven't studied criminal law yet, I'm sure someone else here can say more about that.

[col.parsons]

Will be able to get a better view of this next week, as my mother works at the local Crown Court and is good friends with most of the barristers/judges. Usually they're a reliable source of legal info, except when it comes to the VCRA... then it was quite scary how little they knew! But squatting and the like should be doable, especially as they'll have been a fair few cases locally I can bet.

[Yeager]

If you're going back into your home with the intention of shooting people, then its pre-meditated, yeah? Pretty sure the laws in the US protect a homeowner who shoots/hits/etc in defense of thier family/selves/property? Not someone going vigilante on squatters.

 

There's legal, There's right, then there's the three S'

 

Shoot

Shovel

Shut-up

 

Sometimes vigilante justice is exactly what the doctor ordered.

 

I like living in moral shades of gray. Don't you?

[hwagan]

There's legal, There's right, then there's the three S'

 

Shoot

Shovel

Shut-up