State Specific Question About: CALIFORNIA (CA)

Sadly, Google "California Squatters rights"

Los Angeles, California--Single family home/Woodland Hills

I had my old tenants gave me their 30 day notice via mail.

My tenants moved out. I transferred the Utilities into my name. I pulled permits on work I was in the process of conducting. I also re-keyed the locks and put times inside to turn lights on and off during the day/night.

Less than a week later squatters broke into the house and ordered cable and phone service. I came to the property to do more work and upon entering the home, found people, trash, animals in the home. No real furniture, used mattress, sleeping bags and again, trash.

I called police. Miracle they showed up in less than an hour. The squatters showed phone service in their name and a piece of paper saying "receipt". This was good enough for the police to declare this was a civil matter and I'd have to evict.

I called for the police supervisor to show up. I showed him that the property is under construction and there is "NO HOT WATER", a violation of the Housing Code. So of course I'm to be fined and have to fix it for these squatters. I also showed that I had not advertised this property for rent and I had no tenant applications for this property with my Credit Report Association.

It still didn't matter, the police couldn't do anything, they hand were tied -- I guess with donuts?

So I called a friend who is a manager for a Large Private Security Firm. With in 30 minutes SIX private security cars with a total of 9 guards showed up. All armed with Guns, Mace, Night Sticks, Hand Cuff's and in uniform.

The guards handed my a contract to service his home for the next 12 months. I signed on the dotted line. The guards went inside and almost all of the squatter left. One flat our refused. He has right. Since he's lived there for over 1 day he claims occupancy.

I told the security guards that I'm a contractor licensed for Lead, Asbestos and Mold remediation. The property is contaminated and for the squatters safety, he must be removed. They picked him up, and his stuff, and dropped him off at the corner -- around 300 feet away.

They told him a thing or two.

And this is the only way, short of an eviction, to get squatters out with wasting 45 to 120 days dealing with the courts.

The squatter did call police. Since my agents, the security firm, is licensed and trained, they can make arrest and remove unwanted people for clients under contract.....

Los Angeles, California--Single family home/Woodland Hills

I had my old tenants gave me their 30 day notice via mail.

My tenants moved out. I transferred the Utilities into my name. I pulled permits on work I was in the process of conducting. I also re-keyed the locks and put times inside to turn lights on and off during the day/night.

Less than a week later squatters broke into the house and ordered cable and phone service. I came to the property to do more work and upon entering the home, found people, trash, animals in the home. No real furniture, used mattress, sleeping bags and again, trash.

I called police. Miracle they showed up in less than an hour. The squatters showed phone service in their name and a piece of paper saying "receipt". This was good enough for the police to declare this was a civil matter and I'd have to evict.

I called for the police supervisor to show up. I showed him that the property is under construction and there is "NO HOT WATER", a violation of the Housing Code. So of course I'm to be fined and have to fix it for these squatters. I also showed that I had not advertised this property for rent and I had no tenant applications for this property with my Credit Report Association.

It still didn't matter, the police couldn't do anything, they hand were tied -- I guess with donuts?

So I called a friend who is a manager for a Large Private Security Firm. With in 30 minutes SIX private security cars with a total of 9 guards showed up. All armed with Guns, Mace, Night Sticks, Hand Cuff's and in uniform.

The guards handed my a contract to service his home for the next 12 months. I signed on the dotted line. The guards went inside and almost all of the squatter left. One flat our refused. He has right. Since he's lived there for over 1 day he claims occupancy.

I told the security guards that I'm a contractor licensed for Lead, Asbestos and Mold remediation. The property is contaminated and for the squatters safety, he must be removed. They picked him up, and his stuff, and dropped him off at the corner -- around 300 feet away.

They told him a thing or two.

And this is the only way, short of an eviction, to get squatters out with wasting 45 to 120 days dealing with the courts.

The squatter did call police. Since my agents, the security firm, is licensed and trained, they can make arrest and remove unwanted people for clients under contract.....

My info is out of date by a decade, but I hope this will help you:

- the cops "accepted" a scribbled "$ 350 receipt" as proof of rent paid. As if one could have moved in by just paying the rent for a studio, no SD.

The perps had busted a window, but they chose the one unit which was not connected to the gas. => It couldn't be rented out like this.

They began breaking into other units, one of those was occupied and the tenant reported this to the cops.

In a nutshell: the cops were a waste of time. But Code Enforcement obtained their ID, so I got a name to file for a TRO.

Please share your story and ask the community here if you have questions and need moral support.

RobertJ, you have some of the most amazing experiences, and I'm glad that you were victorious after that awful set of squatters.

Richard, I'm thinking that a frequent contributor from SoCal named, Moshe, can probably cite the code number. If you can wait for a post from her, she is extremely precise and can most likely help you out. Nevertheless, another frequent contributor or some contributors have pretty much driven home the point that the final outcome depends on the judge even if it seems that you have a slam dunk of a case. If you get the most pro-tenant judge, then just follow the law as perfectly as you can.

If you haven't lawyered up and are just using the codes for a lease or to send a letter or email, then you might wait until Moshe or even JimfromOC or another contributor to help. In which county is your property?

I would think squatting on squatters would work. How could the original squatters prove they new squatters didn't live there? They could steal their stuff and food, keep them up all hours, throw their stuff on the lawn when they leave, and if they called police, it would just be a domestic disturbance. As a matter of fact, the squatter squatters could follow them to their next place, call the owners and make a deal with them too. This could be quite lucrative.

Had one once. He moved in as old tenant moved out. I waited until he was gone and went in one day. He had beautiful leather boots with matching coat. I poured chocolate sauce into his boots and lined his coat with maple syrup. Nuts and sweet gherkins were added for spice.

I dog pooped his underwear.

I started this chat. Let me tell you the full story. We have a building in the City of Los Angeles (Rent Controlled). I had a bad tenant that finally fell behind in his rent so I started a eviction for nonpayment of rent. During this time he brought in some unauthorized guest. What he didn't know was that these people were professional squatters. After about 30 days he got in confrontation with his guest, when he asked them to leave they did not. He then brought in some muscle (another dud "the enforcer") who forcibly removed the squatter which resulted in a fight. The enforcer hit the male squatter with a hammer in the ribs and was arrested. At this point the squatters took over the apartment and the original tenant was locked out. The original tenant comes to me for help,stating that he would turn over procession of the premises, if I help him get the squatters out. I call LAPD and they determine that the squatters have possession and so does the original tenant. The original tenant uses this movement to get his belonging and get out.

Thank goodness, in Michigan they have made squatting illegal so you can have the police get them out. Haven't had any experience with it though so I don't know exactly how it works.