Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law Wednesday aiming to crack down on residential squatters in his state by radically shortening the process by which homeowners request the removal of unauthorized people from property.
“The squatter scam ends today with my signature on this piece of legislation and the state of Florida will be better for it,” DeSantis said, according to WTVJ. As well as making it simpler to evict squatters, HB 621 also “creates harsh penalties” for people who take part in squatting and “those who encourage squatting and teach others the scam,” DeSantis’ office said in a news release.
The law, which comes into effect on July 1, means that homeowners will now be able to “fill out a form, give it to your local sheriff and the sheriff is instructed to go and remove the people who are inhabiting your dwelling illegally,” DeSantis said. Before the bill, squatters were afforded certain rights as tenants that meant a longer process was required to evict them.
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At the bill signing, the former presidential candidate criticized liberal states, comparing them unfavorably to the “law and order” state of Florida, according to the Tallahassee Democrat.
“Today in the state of Florida we say very simply what passes muster in New York and California is not passing muster here,” DeSantis said. “You are not going to be able to commandeer somebody’s private property and expect to get away with it.”
