Media reporting informs that squatters live in other people’s homes without permission, rent-free, and refuse to leave. But when kicking them out, the law has been on their side. The real homeowners call the police, but they are too often told they have to take these strangers to court.
Georgia’s legislators have just passed te “Georgia Squatter Reform Act,” and the Act has a message for property squatters: “The law is no longer on your side.” The legislation is waiting for Gov. Brian Kemp’s signature.
An example of squatter behavior that justified and compelled the law is the narrative of the person who has been named “Machete Man,” see link, who trespassed for months and threatened neighbors.
Details illuminate the importance and impact of the new Act. In the summer of 2021, Atlanta police made several stops at a property in the Kirkwood neighborhood. The squatter “threatening to hurt business clients if they parked in front of his house,” a business owner told the FOX 5 I-Team that summer. “It’s caused me nothing but stress. It’s caused us to lose money, to lose business.”
The property owner was at a considerable disadvantage. Police were unhelpful. Brandon Barkely, the squatter, had no right to be there, but the Atlanta police said the homeowner had to take “him to court.” Taking someone to court is time consuming, expensive, and incentives every machination to prolong the process. The property can be severely damaged during the legal eviction proceedings. ” The process can take “eight months up to two years.”
Another example of squatter abuse was cited in reporting. Ronan McCabe, a frustrated Tucker homeowner, discovered people living in his home that was empty and for sale. “They broke into my house and moved in. They have no contract.” Gwinnett County police said they could not do anything. McCabe expressed the irony that he was prohibited from entering his own home.
Rep. Devan Seabaugh, R-Marietta, offered his perspective on the legal status of squatters. “Well, in my opinion, squatters are criminals. They’re trespassing on someone’s private property. And right now they’re being treated like they’re tenants on that property.”
Seabaugh sponsored, with others, the “Georgia Squatter Reform Act.” It passed unanimously this week in the Georgia legislature. Georgia HB 1017 speeds up the process. “What we’ve done with this bill is it will go to magistrate court, a non-jury trial, to expedite that. If they present a lease, they have three days to present that lease to the court. The court has seven days to make a determination if that’s a good lease or a fake lease.”
