Below is my column in USA Today on the growing “squatting” trend across the country. The crime has been raging in Europe for many years and it is now becoming something of an epidemic in the United States. It is not legally difficult to combat, but it has proven politically challenging in many cities. The result for homeowners has been a nightmare with little deterrence or assistance from government officials.
Here is the column:
In Texas, a homeowner says she was locked out of her house by a squatter who claimed to have a lease after moving to the state with her family (the woman previously had been evicted from three other homes).
In Maryland, a woman returned from vacation to find two squatters in her bed. They were not only living in her house but also had sold about $50,000 of her furniture.
It is a pattern being played out in many cities in the United States. It also is common in Europe, where squatting has become a political movement with support from the left.
Some squatters enter legally and then just stay. In Long Island, New York, Guramrit Hanspal, 52, has not paid his mortgage for 25 years. The mortgage was foreclosed, but the company that now owns the home has struggled for decades to evict Hanspal, who continues to change lawyers and file lawsuits to delay proceedings.
“I think (squatting is) a fairly big problem, and I think it’s pretty hard to avoid,” Jim Burling, vice president of legal affairs for the Pacific Legal Foundation, told Fox News.
In the case of Rabbi Meyer Leifer, 90, he simply gave Roselee Moskowitz, 67, a place to live when she found herself temporarily homeless during the pandemic. She then just stayed and refused to leave. Mosokowitz reportedly occupies the rabbi’s living room and sits on his couch watching his television.
Prosecutors and politicians play a critical role in these scams. Local authorities have done little to assist homeowners for a variety of reasons – from political calculations to negligence. Instead, they force landowners to go into overtaxed housing courts with notoriously slow dockets. It often takes months or years to get an eviction order.
The resulting lack of deterrence is evident in the brazen attitude of these criminals. A retiree friend of mine was away from her home in Sarasota, Florida, when a squatter moved in and refused to leave. The woman falsely claimed that she had a lease and trashed the home. Eventually, she was arrested but promptly released. She then returned and stole my friend’s car. The police said there was likely little that would happen to the squatter.
The people involved are committing crimes, from breaking and entering to fraud to forgery. Yet, they are rarely prosecuted.
Squatting is not a particularly difficult problem to solve. It simply requires police and prosecutors to enforce existing laws.
In a recent case in Houston, a teacher, Amberlyn Prather, reportedly squatted in a luxury home for months with her family. The property owner said she repeatedly changed the locks only to have the squatters gain entry by climbing on the roof and entering through upper windows. In this case, authorities have a person accused of forging a lease. That should not be difficult to prosecute.
Cities can speed process of reviewing property owners’ rights
Cities can create new legal avenues to address this crime. The key is to force action at the outset. Cities can set up rapid response teams with prosecutors making immediate judgments on lawful possession. They also can fast-track the cases to bring parties into court rapidly.
If a car owner called police to report that someone was sitting in their vehicle without permission, police would make a decision on the spot about ownership based on the registration and other documents. They would not allow the person to drive off and tell the owner to work it out in court.
And it is far less important to return the possession of a car than a home.
Yet, authorities in New York did little to help Marjorie Martin as she sought for three years to evict squatters. It didn’t matter that Christine Rock allegedly filed fraudulent paperwork with the forged signatures of Martin’s mom, father and sister – all of whom had been dead for more than a decade. Rock was accused of putting the utilities in her name and then ignoring the bills.
When Rock was finally arrested, the city hit Martin with a more than $25,000 water bill that was left unpaid by the squatter.
She is not alone. Owners are told that they must continue to pay taxes and other costs for their property, and squatters delay any final orders through failures to appear, changes of counsel and other practices. In the case of Lia Hatzakis, 29, a squatter offered to make up for not paying for the utilities he used by dating her while he lived in her home. She declined.
There is little evidence of legislative action in many cities. However, Democrats in Congress have moved to pass a federal housing law − to bar landlords from learning whether potential tenants have criminal records, which would include past squatter offenses.
The common nuisance of squatting reflects a breakdown in basic deterrence of our laws. Property offenses have been steadily downgraded as priorities in many cities, while prosecutions are viewed as politically risky for officials who do not want to be viewed as targeting people who are homeless.
Before these cases become a movement like the one in Europe, local and state authorities will have to act. Squatters defend their actions as proper when done according to their own standards. When a woman in England called her squatter to object to his conduct, “Michael” was insulted and left her a message stating, “Just so you know, I’m not doing anything wrong. I’ve done it the right way.”
Jonathan Turley is the J.B. & Maurice C. Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University Law School.
Our society is morally bankrupt for anyone to think that they can just take your property illegally
Anonymous
“Automation in agriculture is still limited to certain types of crops.”
In 1600 90% of the population was engaged in agriculture as that was necescary to be able to feed everyone.
Agriculture was an inefficient process dependant almost entirely on bioilogical power – human and animals.
Today less than 5% of the country farms. That change is entirely through innovation and automation.
And that did not stop in the 60’s.
Are US Farms 100% automated – absolutely not. Are they far more automated than 10 years ago ? and more still than 20 years ago ? Absolutely.
During the Trump administration illegal border crossings were a small fraction of those currently.
And miraculously food was cheaper.
There are specific segments of agriculture that are still dependant on immigrant labor.
These are fewer and fewer with each year.
I would note that OBAMA was as much responsible for that as Trump.
While Obama let more people into the country than Trump he radically increased raids on employers of illegals.
Both rounding up illegals and fining the crap out of employers.
Guess what ? Employers do not like massive fines or the prospect of jail.
Incredibly enforcing laws actually works – and fewer and fewer farmers hired illegals.
When Farmers were deprived of cheap immigrant labor – they found other answers.
Increasingly automated farming being not only one – but we are not nearly at the end of that.
Farming has been difficult to automate. But humans are very smart.
“Hand picking is still the best method for a majority of some crops and those cannot be automated.”
Because you say so ?
Wheat has not been hand picked for a century. Nor has corn or most grains – and those are our largest crops.
Outside of family gardens most vegetables are not hand picked.
Fewer and fewer fruits are.
NJor is that the limit. We have elimiated human labor in picking – but also in sorting. We have had “vision systems” in inductry for decades. They are perfectly applicable to crops. If you can train a computer to identify a Bad Printed Circuiot board – you can train it to identify a bad peach (or drive a car – it is literally the same process).
I worked for a company that makes the electronic systems for far equipment for 5 years.
“Texas legislators are often usurping the power of cities”
That is completely impossible. There is no provision in the constitution for city power.
All power that every city anywhere in the country has is given to it by a legislature – and it can be taken away by a legislature.
“when they don’t like certain ordinances or city statutes. Republicans often assert control over “blue” cities by controlling their funding.”
The power to enact local ordinaces is delegated to cities by the state.
It is limited to those powers that are uniquely necessary for cities.
I do not live in a city – I am obligated to obey state laws – but there are very few local laws I must obey.
In much of the country there are NO local ordinances – no local building codes or zoning or …
The only laws that apply are state laws.
This is rational. We do not need different laws regarding murder in urban vs. rural areas.
Further accross the country – though each state has the power to enact its own laws – a substantial part of state laws conforms to model laws that the states work our jointly.
We do not want substantially different laws for each state, for each county or each municiplaity.
In the US the general police power is constitutionally delegate to the State government.
With regard to taxes – property taxes are local in most states. Sales taxes are collected by the state EXCEPT in Cities – where they are collected and kept by the cities. Many cities levy their own income taxes.
If your city is short of revenue – it should raise its taxes.
Raral areas should bear the costs of Rural govenrment, and urban areas should bear the costs of urban government.
If the benefits of a city are high enough – people should willingly pay higher taxes.
Yet, people are moving out of cities recently – a trend that was the reverse for much of the past 2 centuries or more.
“Red states like Texas and Florida have asserted control over cities with progressive or liberal ordinances or statutes many times.”
They have not “asserted control” – they HAVE control. That is how the constitution works.
“They often create legislation to curb those local laws and ordinances.”
Good we have far too many laws.
“Local control in deep red states like Texas and Florida is an illusion.”
What is “local control” ?
In my state – and most others. criminal laws are created by the state.
We have state police – who can enforce those laws – but for the most part – the laws are enforced by local police and local courts.
The state police do not typically come into my rural community to enforce the law – much less the city 20min away.
Can my community make its own criminal laws – absolutely not. Nor would we want otherwise.
But it can make its own choices regarding enforcing those laws.;
Are you trying to argue that the murder rate in Blue counties is 50% higher than red counties – which is the nationwide average, because Blue counties can not enact their own special criminal laws ? Is there a special kind of murder that only occurs in cities ?
You clearly did not think before you made your arguments.
Anonymou
“That had nothing to do with election rigging. ”
Of course it did – or is the government censoring of political speech legitimate conduct for you ?
Grow up, face reality. That is Election Fraud.
Whenj Government itself takes sides in an election – that is election rigging.
“The judge didn’t order the Biden administration to stop censoring political speech.”
That is exactly what was ordered.
“It ordered the administration not to interact with social media.”
For the purposes of censoring speech.
There are many many many reasons government can interact with social media.
It si Censoring speech that violates the first amendment.
“With the exception of national security.”
And the Judge actually got that wrong. National Security is NOT sufficient justification for government censorship.
That is an already decided supreme court case – Perhaps you have heard of the “pentagon papers”.
The government took NYT and WaPo to the Supreme court to prevent publishing the Pentagon papers.
They OBVIOUSLY were a threat to national security.
Regardless, the government LOST
There was a similar case a bit earlier where the Government tried to bar publication of plans to develop an Atomic Bomb – based on national security – the Government lost.
The only instances in which government can participate in the censorship of speech are that speech that is actually a crime.
Child pornography as an example.
“Your disingenuous excuses show just how far you’re willing to twist facts to fit your false narrative.”
Look in the mirror.
I am not the slightest disingenuous – I douibt you actually know what the word means.
I have said What I mean. And the FACTS are as I have said. I understand that you do not like that.
But the FACTS are the FACTS.
Political censorship by government IS election rigging.
But even more importantly – people whose moral character is so poor that they will criminally use the power of government to censor their enemies, are unlikely to be deterred in committing other crimes.
The judges ORDER
“The Plaintiffs have presented substantial evidence in support of their claims that they were
the victims of a far-reaching and widespread censorship campaign. This court finds that they are
likely to succeed on the merits of their First Amendment free speech claim against the Defendants.
Therefore, a preliminary injunction should issue immediately against the Defendants”
If a squatter breaks into my house with a fake lease and I file a complaint, the Soros prosecutor will require me to prove the lease isn’t phony, and nobody will care.
Too bad for me.
But if I shoot a squatter for breaking into my domicile, now the prosecutor has to prove the lease is real if he wants to indict me; otherwise, castle doctrine applies.
Breaking, entering, and refusing to leave when ordered at gunpoint casts doubt on any claim the squatter might have that he was unaware the lease might be fake. That’s why I always lock my doors and windows–and own firearms.
And the news story will go viral, I’ll be a hero, and donations will pay for the lawyers. Too bad for the bad guys.
By ignoring squatting, Soros prosecutors are literally endangering both squatters and property owners. Anyone who would elect Soros lunatics should be exiled to Waziristan. If you live in such a community, there really are no good options. An insane prosecutor will still persecute you for protecting your family and home, castle doctrine or not.
Diogenes, if the problem gets serious where I reside, I will put a pest control company on retainer and have them tent the house.
I heard of one landlord who took the doors off the hinges of his deadbeat tenants. There are creative ways to deal with squatters, Alan. YouTube hasn’t expunged those creative ways yet, but they might soon.
And if you defend yourself and/or your property.. the pension boys in blue will have no problem arresting you.
In this sense, the theory of the Communists
may be summed up in the single sentence:
Abolition of private property.
~Marx & Engels
Manifesto of the Communist Party (1848)
I for one will not be seeking help from any government entity should a squatter elect to make the worst decision of their life and try to squat in my home. I will handle it myself within minutes.
Amen brother
Yup, there are ways to get them out without using the courts. What all homeowners should be doing though is to have cameras monitoring their property if they are gone for any length of time. Better to know instantly when these criminals show up. Another tactic is to tell the police that you will be gone and to keep an eye on your house. That way, you’ve set up the scenario that you still own and occupy the house and anyone else is trespassing. Red states should be very proactive on this. Sad that Florida doesn’t have any laws that address it quickly.
if it’s my home then it will be the last time they squat anywhere
” Jesus” gets more money by whining about homelessness and every other sort of public tax money scam.
Praise the lord marshal Jesus
Modern historians are morons. What is new.
Frankly the lesson of the past decade – particularly the lesson of Covid is that those in Ivory Towers are “IYI” – intellectual Yet Idiot.
The average plumber understand the real world far better than a gender studies professor.
I do not like Trump.
I judge him based on actual performance.
And I do so CORRECTLY.
I have not wasted my time refuting every single idiotic claim you have made.
There is pretty much nothing you write that is not an obvious made up lie
no one should trust you.
Increasingly people don’t.
You have done that to yourself.
then you are not a very intelligent man
Then you must be a IYI.
And your actual evidence of that is ?
I am not always Right. But throughout my entire life I have been right far more often than those arround me.
Each of us have different skills. Different attributes. We are NOT all equal. Humans are NOT ants or bees – interchangeable social animals.
I am very good at logic. That is why one of SEVERAL businesses that I have is developing embedded computer software.
You can not be good at difficult computer programming tasks without being very good at logic.
If you wish you can go back HERE and follow the debate regarding Covid through to early 2020.
Unlike Fauxi, and the “experts” I have made very few mistakes. My posts – hundreds of them are here forever for anyone to read.
I made THREE Errors regarding Covid. All of which are closely related.
I presume that the Los Almost Projections and the Imperial College projections were wrong.
They did actually prove ultimately Wrong – but Los Almos as an example was only off by a factor of 4.
The imperial college projection was pure garbage – there model was not even determinant – it did not produce the same results consistently from the same inputs. That just means that The imperial college programers were complete idiots.
Regardless, I beleivd that Los Almos was off by atleast an order of magnitude. They turned out to be off by a factor of 4.
Next until I understood it better I beleived the Vaccine might work.
Finally I beleived – because that has almost never happened before that C19 would NOT infect more than 1/3 of people.
Very few diseases – like almost none ever infect more than 1/3 of the population. That was the infection rate for the 1918 Flu. There is no disease in the past 100 years that infected more than 1/3 of the population before Covid.
Both of my other two errors tie directly to the last. The odds of C19 being a once in 1000 years epidemic were incredibly low.
But in fact a once in 1000 years epidemic does actually occur once in 1000 years. C19 is a once in 1000 years epidemic.
Well expect that it increasingly appears to be of human design and at that point all bets are off.
Regardless, I was right about Masks – not because I am some expert. But because I researched the studies AND I understand the fairly simple basic underlying math – which is the same MATH that caused EVERYTHING from Masks to lockdowns, to ultimately vaccines to fail.
To stop an airborn virus with a transmission rate of 2.8-3.5 (Wuhan Covid) you need measures that are alteast 97% effective AND you need to sustain them and that effectiveness for a long time. That is just not possible.
The effectiveness of N95 masks was 77% in the labor for a single exposure.
Presuming you have passed 5th grade math and you understand exponents – you would know that for two exposures an N95 mask is 37% effective.
There is a reason that BEFORE Covid there were 11 different RCT’s that demonstrated that N95 Masks were not effective against airborne viruses that were Less contagious than Covid.
Regardless, I have always been competent at math and logic.
And that is really all you need to be right nearly all the time.
And Frankly – you do not even need that. We live in the internet era – if you want to find them FACTS are readily available.
All you need is to be able to tell the difference between a FACT and an opinion.
11 RCT’s that find no effect of N95 masks is a FACT. Is it possible that by some miracle C19 might be the first airborn virus ever than masks work against ? In theory.
In practice the odds are heavily against that. One in 1000 year events do occur – once in 1000 years.
If you consistently bet AGAINST them – you will be right 999 years out of 1000.
Most of the tiings those of you on the left beleive to be true are either demonstrably absolutely false, or are such long odds that it is unwise to bet on them.
Was it a proven fact in Nov. 2016 that DJT did not collude with Putin ? No. But the odds against it were astronomical.
Was it a proven fact in 2020 that the Hunter Biden Laptop was not russian disinformation – no. But the odds that is was were astronomically low.
Those of you on the left constantly bet on long odds – unbeleivable ods, and you do it over and over despite never being right.
And I do so CORRECTLY.? I guess not unlike a god, you are the sole arbiter of the truth? Are you an official fact checker? If not you should apply.
Millions of us despise Binden every bit as much as the TDS crowd hates Trump. To quote HRC “What difference does it make?” To the beholders every difference in the world.
If we had a controlled Southern border a lot more than the squatter population would drop off dramatically.
“I guess not unlike a god, you are the sole arbiter of the truth?”
No – REALITY determines what is True.
If you choose to debate the existence of Gravity – does telling you that you are wrong and gravity exists – make me the arbiter of Truth ? Does it make gravity and opinion ? Does gravity exist because a consensus of “experts” claim it does ?
Or does it exist because …. REALITY.
“Are you an official fact checker?”
I have far more qualifications to be a fact checker than nearly anyone who actually is.
But again that is NOT the point.
PEOPLE do not decide what is an is not a FACT. REALITY decides that for us.
Your refusal to beleive that the sun is real – does not make it any less real.
“Millions of us despise Binden every bit as much as the TDS crowd hates Trump.”
So ?
” To quote HRC “What difference does it make?” ”
Why would any sane person quote HRC ?
Anonymous
So your argument is that The Fed, corporations and markets all conspired together to make Trump successful.
And all conspired together to make Biden a failure ?
Please adjust your tinfoil hat.
Some sound advice from Adam Smith – over 250 years ago, as good then as today
It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.
Businesses, individuals, even those in government are going to act in their own interests.
When we restrict their ability to use force or Fraud the result is not merely beneficial to all. NOTHING has ever proved so beneficial.
Just the benefits of the past 40 years of free markets globally have DWARFED all charity EVER combined.
Warren Buffet has objectively done more good for mankind than Mother Theresa.
Nearly all the things you fear and seek to constrain or kill are the very things that improve our lives.
Anonymous
I am constantly shocked at the ability of left wing nut to separate themselves from reality.
You can find PLENTY of data sources – including YOUR OWN PERSONAL EXPERIENCE to refute EVERY claim you have made.
The tail end of Obama’s reign was headed into RECESSION not recovery – Growth declined throughout 2016.
There are dozens of sources and graphs to confirm this.
Conversely Biden inherited and economy that was growing RAPIDLY.
Growth was Negative in 2Q 2020 as a consequence of Covid and lockdowns. It was the worst single qtr drop in US history and it was followed by the largest 1 qtr gain in us history when lockdowns were abandoned.
By Jan 2021 Growth was 6% AND RISING – and it had been rising since Q2 2020.
From Reagan through the entire Trump presidency Inflation was never over 2% and mostly barely over 1%.
That is the Fed’s target. Under Biden Inflation went out of control.
There was no consequential Obama Recovery – Ever. What we saw post the Great Recession was much the same as what we saw post the great depression.
Massive govenrment meddling that resulted in a long pathetic recovery – instead of the rapid natural recovery that is the norm.
As noted Trump had the worst single qtr drop in US history. As a result of the lockdowns that Fauxi talked him into.
When he dropped that policy he had the most rapid Recovery in US history – all that is necescary for an economy to recover is to Quit F#$King with it.
The economy does not crash because the president is asleep.
The causes of the Q2 2020 collapse and the Q3 recovery are SELF EVIDENT.
The crash was driven by LOCKDOWNS – not Covid. Further EVERYONE understood that the Lockdowns would cause growth to Tank.
The consequences were much worse than expected.
The stupid policy was reversed and the recovery was IMMEDIATE
None of this is “secret”
In the End 2020 ended up being Zero Growth – It was the worst of all of 4 years of Trump. But despite having the worst single qtr collapse in US history there wasno actual recession. That alone is proof this was the result of policy NOT the pandemic itself. The Pandemic did not end in Aug 2020. But the bad policies ended FAST.
Should Trump have aggreed to Left wing nut inspired lockdowns ? H311 No!.
Was he smart enoguh to stop them near immediately – Absolutely.
Obama could have had a dramatic recovery anytime he wanted. All he had to do was Stop F$#King arround.
Biden could have an incredible 4 years – all he had to do was NOTHING.
That is not a partisan claim – that is basic economics – adn several centuries of economic data and analysis from all over the world.
Inflation was 1.4% in Jan 2021. If the Fed’s had failed to raise rates when they should have inflation would have been higher.
The Fed controlls money supply. It therefore controls inflation. If the Fed makes choices that do not result in inflation and do result in growth than the Fed has made WISE choices.
If Your claims regarding Trump pressuring the Fed not to raise rates were True – then Trump understood the economy better than the Fed.
We did not have inflation under Trump. That means the Fed’s got the rates right.
The stock market did well under Trump.
So did the middle class, and the working class. Houshold real income increased by 3500/family/year under Trump.
Absolutely the rich did better – so did EVERYONE ELSE.
Taxes were cut and Tax Revenues not only increased – but increased as a percent of GDP.
Under the Trump tax regime – Government is collecting 21% of the total economy in taxes – almost entirely from the rich.
That has NEVER happened before.
“Once the pandemic began to be dealt with by an adult president”
Biden did NOT deal with the Pandemic – it is STILL going on.
As of 3/10/2023 When JHU stopped publiching Data – 10,000 people were still dying in the US every 28 days from Covid.
Total US deaths were just under 1.2M 3/4 of which occured under Biden.
The Fact is that humans have a single power over Covid – we can make it WORSE – which we have done.
Trump made poor choices – Biden made WORSE ones.
About 330K people died of Covid while Trump was president – Without a vaccine.
Nearly 1M people have died under Biden WITH a vaccine.
There is pretty much NOTHING you have ever claimed about Covid that is True.
Biden said any president who presided over 200K covid deaths should resign. Why hasn’t he resigned 5 times over ?
You shoudl be ASHAMED of Everything you have ever said or claimed regarding Covid.
You have lied and censored and done great harm to people.
Trump’s on;y Covid mistake was breifly beleiving you.
Biden did nothing that has not made Covid worse.
It is likely endemic because of your policies.
SHAME ON YOU for daring to metnion Covid – that is YOUR FAILURE.
Again SHAME ON YOU.
People have DIED as a result of YOUR bad policies. Of YOUR Hubris. Of YOUR pretending to be god.
SHAME ON YOU!
Please learn something about economics.
US Anti-trust laws are a failure – they seek to cure something that is not real.
Preditory market tactics, price gouging. speculation to the very limited extent that that are real are automatically regulated by the markets.
Look at what happened to the JP Morgan London Whale. He had Tens of Billions to play with to manipulate the markets with – and in the end he LOST JP Morgan 4B dollars.
Without Government involvement at all markets automatically punish “price gougers” and predtory market tactics.
There is no example in history of a sustained natural monopoly. Every monopoly that has not failed quickly on its own – has been propped up by government.
Every single one. Market forces are so strong that even businesses without any competitors can not increase prices above what they would in a competitive market – without creating competition.
Even a moron should understand that.
If I open a lemonade stand on a hot summer day and I charge $10/glass, and people actually pay it.
Tomorow there will be someone next to me charging $5.
Any business that is profitable beyond what the risks justify Will end up with competition near immediately – BECAUSE they are highly profitable.
Government efforts to control even the supposed worst excesses of the markets – stop them from fixing themselves and make things worse.
Nor does one need to be a brain suregeon to figue this out.
You do not think about the arguments you make.
John, I couldn’t have laid your comments out any better. You hit the nail on the head! Why the lefties can’t comprehend this is unconscionable!
Thomas Sowell is known to have been very sympathetic to Marxist-socialist ideas during his 20’s. In an interview, he stated that the reason such leftist ideals are so popular in academia is because they are intellectually interesting. When queried about what led to his abandoning Marxism, he immediately stated, “Oh — facts.” His real-life experience with government policies and their effect showed him the fallacy of such economic theories.
A reluctance to enforce the laws, or to be seen as targeting the homeless are symptoms. The root cause is the belief that the have nots are morally superior to the haves. Owning property, following the law, and having a nuclear family are considered sinful products of white supremacy. Being poor, breaking the law, not owning property, or doing poorly in school, are likewise considered the products of white supremacy. They are not held personally responsible for any of their decisions. If there is peer pressure in a black high school to drop out, not study, do drugs, or engage in violence at the school, which is run by black administrators, and black teachers, then it is blamed on white supremacy. If a black woman has a child out of wedlock with a black man, who abandons them, none of those decisions are their responsibility; it’s the fault of white supremacy. Capitalism, in which someone sells a product or idea at a price a buyer willingly agrees, is considered white supremacy. Socialism, where everyone is equally deprived and helpless to improve their lot, except for the elites in government, is considered virtuous.
States that ascribe to this philosophy, of the moral superiority of the have nots, will not enforce criminal laws. They reduced the felony threshold of theft in California to $900, de facto legalizing shoplifting. Why? Because small business owners and corporations are the haves, and thus morally inferior to the shoplifters, the have nots.
They will not help property owners combat squatters, because the owners are morally inferior to the squatters. The activists in government figure if you own property, you’ve benefitted from white supremacy, and you can just pay to get it back or make repairs. Most homeowners are far from rich. On the street where my in-laws live, an elderly man moved out of state to live with his relatives. His house was supposed to be fixed up and sold. Instead, squatters moved in. They stole electricity from neighbors. They turned the house into a meth lab, which was an explosion hazard to the entire neighborhood. It took forever to finally get them out, as the police are directed to consider it a civil matter. By the time they finally left, the house was toxic, all wiring and pipes had been torn out, and I think they had poured cement down the toilet. There was human feces inside, as well as drug paraphernalia. The house was too toxic for construction workers to enter. The family was eventually able to sell the house as a teardown at a pittance. The sale of that house was supposed to support the elderly man in his retirement, and pay for his medical bills. Instead, he was impoverished. I wonder if he gained value to the Left.
“The root cause is the belief that the have nots are morally superior to the haves.”
Well said.
It is the moral inversion of altruism that puts the needs of the have nots over individual rights — including the rights of self-defense and private property. If this culture took private property seriously, then the authorities would not dismiss such cases as merely a “civil matter.”
Karen S., at last a well reasoned comment! Thank you 🙏
Anonymous
You clearly do not live in the real world.
Regardless. Quit putting words in my mouth.
I have NOT said any of the things you claim I have.
I am NOT that stupid.
Just because YOU clearly are does not entitle you to claim I have bought into your nonsense.
So let me be perfectly clear.
We are in a POOR UNSTABLE economy that is highly likely to go into recession.
Powell, Not Biden is currently controlling the economy.
He is trying to bring inflation down AND avoid a recession.
He probably can not do both.
Kudos if he can. Though that is highly unlikely.
He CAN avoid recession – but only at the cost of not bringing inflation down.
He seems properly committed to bringing inflation down.
As bad as recession is – inflation – even 4% is WORSE over the long run.
Nor is this “my view” it is what 9 out of 10 economists are saying.
1. Deterrence? Isn’t every criminal behind bars a failure of deterrence? 2. A police officer should be able to determine true home ownership just like checking car ownership. Arrest the squatter and take them to jail. Clean out the squatter’s possessions and charge them for the cost. Send the squatter up the river for a year. Problem solved.
Currently, the police are required to treat a property dispute as a civil matter. For the police to do as you say, check ownership, and arrest squatters, then laws have to change. I hope they do.
Real-estate buyers pay through the teeth for Title Insurance and County Registrar fees. They have to sit there and sign 5 dozen times on a 2-inch pile of papers. They have to be finger-printed and DL-carded.
What is the point of these controls if squatters can so easily imposter as having leases with the owners? If there isn’t a rapid turn-around identification of the true owners, where the owners can be immediately called to verify rental/lease status, what are owners paying for in their property taxes?
The theory is out there that western nations are allowing violent mayhem to go largely unchecked in the short term so they can justify more intrusive Big Brother programs to monitor and control their citizens in the long term. Not unlike the response of the American federal government after 9/11.
“. . . so they can justify more intrusive Big Brother programs to monitor and control their citizens . . .”
Yep. That is the Soros strategy. Out of widespread chaos comes the demand for total control.