[sziszi007]

Terrible. we have them next door too. We called the police while they were moving in. They told the police they have a lease. The person in charge of the house for the bank whom has not yet reposed it is totally in on it.
They have been here for 2 months. Having parties. The positive this in they brought the lawn back...it appears they will be here for a while....since they don't pay rent. The home in not in banks name yet....but the owners have long left the property abandoned... GRRRRR!

[timtemtym]

Originally Posted by AA702

Those lock boxes are not that difficult to get into. Sometimes these people use the same code for all their properties or they use some generic code. I've tried locks where I use 0000 and boom! it opens.

Yep! I know a realtor who uses that 000 because she can't remember her codes and doesn't travel with a notebook or it hasn't occurred to her to just keep a list in her phone. She can't be bothered with the hassle and doesn't think anything bad will ever happen.

[K.Uni]

Originally Posted by ddrhazy

The problem is a lot of people fake being a landlord and gain access to an empty house, draft up a lease and sign a lease with an unsuspecting tenant. They might have a lease but it's not with the landlord or agent of landlord. All tenants should be using the recorder's website to find out who the owner of a rental is before giving any monies and asking for some ID to verify identity.

As for people who deliberately break into a house and squat, I have heard stories of people who's primary residence was stolen this way and it took weeks/months to evict the house thief.

Still.. I just don't understand how it can take weeks/months!! if I go on vacation to Hawaii and find people living in MY house and the police letting them stay there because of their fake, drafted "lease" before kicking them out, I would go in there to beat the living **** out of them, jail time or not for me. Omg squatting is the most absurd thing I've heard!!!!!!!!!!? And to know that they have rights, WTF?!?

[BBMW]

Remember OJ's in jail not for killing his wife, but for trying to steal his stuff pack from someone who stole (maybe borrowed and refused to return) from him. Whether or not the stuff was his or not was irrelevant. The fact that he tried to take it back by force is what mattered.

Originally Posted by K.Uni

Still.. I just don't understand how it can take weeks/months!! if I go on vacation to Hawaii and find people living in MY house and the police letting them stay there because of their fake, drafted "lease" before kicking them out, I would go in there to beat the living **** out of them, jail time or not for me. Omg squatting is the most absurd thing I've heard!!!!!!!!!!? And to know that they have rights, WTF?!?

[MediocreButArrogant]

1) Cut lock off of breaker panel, if any
2) Open panel, shut off main breaker
3) Close panel, put your own cut-resistant, shrouded padlock on the breaker panel
4) Repeat until squatters are gone

There's an easy way to defeat this, but I'm guessing many squatters will be too dumb to figure it out. If they do figure it out, you could always take the inside cover off and just take the main service breaker. I can think of dozens of other ways to make an abandoned house unlivable in the summer in Las Vegas.

[bayview6]

Originally Posted by MediocreButArrogant

1) Cut lock off of breaker panel, if any
2) Open panel, shut off main breaker
3) Close panel, put your own cut-resistant, shrouded padlock on the breaker panel
4) Repeat until squatters are gone

There's an easy way to defeat this, but I'm guessing many squatters will be too dumb to figure it out. If they do figure it out, you could always take the inside cover off and just take the main service breaker. I can think of dozens of other ways to make an abandoned house unlivable in the summer in Las Vegas.

Good advice as long as the squatters don't figure out who did it. I say pull the main breaker and new pad lock.

[lvoc]

Originally Posted by MediocreButArrogant

1) Cut lock off of breaker panel, if any
2) Open panel, shut off main breaker
3) Close panel, put your own cut-resistant, shrouded padlock on the breaker panel
4) Repeat until squatters are gone

There's an easy way to defeat this, but I'm guessing many squatters will be too dumb to figure it out. If they do figure it out, you could always take the inside cover off and just take the main service breaker. I can think of dozens of other ways to make an abandoned house unlivable in the summer in Las Vegas.

You might however get shot. And it might well be a good shoot. The kind of folk who squat are the kind to be armed and believe it is their god given right to shoot.

And failing that you might get your ass kicked and then get arrested.

If you wish to protect an abandoned next door property I would do it before anyone moves in...not after.

And thinking about it I may take some steps on a nearby house. I think that I will simply insulate the feed to the main breaker. That way nothing is obviously wrong but the power won't come on.

[boboluv]

if i came home to find someone in my home unlawfully i would tell them to leave immediately, if they refused i think i would be so terrified that i would shoot them dead on the spot.

[BBMW]

^
The people who do this are generally smart enough not to do this with actively occupied houses. There have been, and likely still are, enough abandoned houses in Clark County that they can find one to squat in. If they're low key about it, no one may know that they're a squatter for months.

Does NV have adverse possession laws. In NY, if you squat in a property long enough, and no one acts to evict you, you can end up owning the place.

[aggrofish]

If someone did this to me they'd never seen seen or heard from again. They'd be buried out in the desert.