As a property owner in Bellmead, it can be understood if you are worried when you have a vacant rental home. It can attract a whole mess of predicaments for you. As soon as your tenant moves out, you should already have someone who will take their place, and if you don’t, then you are exposing your rental home to trespassers and squatters. By definition, a squatter is a person who unlawfully occupies an uninhabited building or unused land. To put it simply, a squatter is someone who is unlawfully dwelling in your property without your consent. Some cases even include a former tenant who chooses to be on the property despite not paying rent after their lease has expired or been terminated.
These unlawful occupants can be a menace to your Bellmead rental property and your ability to lease it to new renters. It would be best to keep your property secure to avoid squatters. If in case you are far from your property, then hire a property management company to do the checking for you. You won’t regret it.
As soon as you realize you have a squatter, start making actions. Call the police immediately. The longer you let them linger in your property, the more difficult it would be to evict them. The courts will interpret your hesitation to evict as a sign of consent. One other possible complication that could happen is if the squatter has made the utilities at that address in their name. In some states, these acts establish residency already even though the squatter is technically stealing what is legally yours. If that’s the case, the police will then have to treat the case as civil, and no longer a criminal matter.
Sometimes, the police are limited with what they can do for you. If that happens, your next step is to serve the unlawful occupant with an eviction notice. Surprisingly, as simple as giving notice will encourage the squatter to leave your property. If they are adamant, however, there may be a need for you to file an unlawful detainer lawsuit, which will start formal eviction proceedings. Depending on the speed of the court system in your area, this could take anywhere from a couple week to several months. But once you have a judgment in your favor from the court, you can hire the local sheriff or police officer to remove the squatter for you.
After you have successfully evicted your squatters, you will then need to address their personal property. It won’t matter if they have decided to leave voluntarily or compulsorily removed, they may leave their belongings behind. Depending on where the rental home is located, you may be able to throw these items away simply. However, in some places, you may need to place the pieces in a storage unit at your expense. If the squatter doesn’t pay the storage fees and claim their property, then you have the right to auction it off or dispose of it as the law in your area dictates.
Dealing with squatters can be a long, hard process, taking up your valuable time and resources. This is why proactive prevention is the best approach to unlawful occupants. At Real Property Management Apex, we skillfully manage the move-out process when tenants leave and fill vacancies fast. After all, an occupied rental house is a profitable, squatter-free rental house. For more information about our Bellmead property management services, contact us online or call us at 2254-732-1599 today.
We are pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the Nation. See Equal Housing Opportunity Statement for more information.
