For homeowners that are planning on selling their home that has squatters in it, there is a lot to consider. As the property owner, you should either be sure they have no claim to the title of your home or you should proceed with going through a proper series of steps to legally evict the squatters before advertising it for sale. There are a couple of main factors to consider before you decide on whether or not you should sell your house with squatters in it. This article will explain the steps necessary to ensure you can still successfully sell your home even with squatters in it. If you want to learn about squatter’s rights check out this resource before you decide to sell your house. Utilize this information to help you navigate how to handle squatters in your area.
Now, let’s review the pros and cons of selling a house with squatters in it.
Selling Home With Squatters Who Are Not Claiming The Property
To first decide how to go about selling your home that has squatters occupying it, you should consider a couple of factors: if they’re actively living in it or if they’ve got no claim to your home title, or if they are actively living in it and are attempting to claim the title of the home for themselves. If your property is being occupied by squatters who aren’t trying to take over the property title, selling your home should be a relatively easy process.
When this is the case, you should decide if you would like them to relocate or if you’ll sell the home as is. Obviously, removing the squatters would likely help increase the chances of the home selling. Deciding to sell the home with squatters still inside requires you to confirm that they will not try to lay claim to the title in the future. You also want to be sure that while advertising your home for sale to be transparent about the squatters and the property’s current situation with them.
Selling Home With Squatters Claiming Adverse Possession
If you end up having to remove squatters from a home because they are attempting to claim the property as theirs (adverse possession) you will have to follow a series of steps in order to legally remove them. First, you’ll want to try to verbally notify the squatters of your request for them to leave 30 days before they’ve been living there. If more than 30 days have gone by, you’ll want to immediately call the police and have them request the squatters move on. At this point, you’ll also want to file a police report so that you have evidence in case of a court hearing that you officially tried to remove the squatters. At the same time, file an eviction notice against the squatters.
If they still haven’t responded to any of your attempts, you should move on to filing a court case to get an official ruling on whose property the home is. Usually, judges side with the original owner of the home.
Cases in which judges don’t rule in the property owner’s favor are usually when a squatter has been living on the property for such a long time, it’s been very obvious, and/or they were scammed into squatting (false advertisements of a fictitious seller). All states have different laws regarding squatters, so being knowledgeable about squatters laws in your state is a must.
Final Thoughts
Selling a home that has squatters occupying it is not always stressful. Sometimes with a little diplomacy, many squatters are willing to move on or occupy the residency without ever attempting to lay claim to it.
In other and more unfortunate times, squatters attempt to enact adverse possession and a legal process must be followed by property owners to ensure they can successfully remove the squatters so that they can officialize their ownership and sell their home. Selling your home could be the quickest and least painful way to get out of the situation. Depending on the laws in your city, dealing with squatters and navigating the rights involved can be challenging. The odds can be stacked against landlords, unfortunately. Analyze the entire situation, review the squatter’s rights, and decide if it makes sense for you to sell your house.
