Renters

If you have a summer cabin where you spend your time, you would be wise to look into the laws regarding squatter rights in your state. In New York City a person can claim squatters rights after 30 days. Under the law, it is illegal for the homeowner to change the locks, turn off the utilities, or remove the belongings of the squatters. To legally remove the squatters takes up to six months and legal fees. The squatters often damage the property. The smart home owner would come home at least every 29 days and make sure their house is safe. Many years age I was transferred to another state on my job and I rented my house. It is not a good idea to be an absentee owner and rent your property. One renter refused to pay the rent and refused to leave. It took 9 months to evict these people partly because it was winter. In the end I had to hire movers to set the furniture out on the curb under the supervision of the sheriff. The truly strange thing was that the renter was minister. When he left he took the phone off the wall. In those days the phone company owned the phones to I had to pay for it.