What qualifies as “squatters” in your Denver house anyhow?

According to Dictionary.com, here are the differences between squatters and a trespassers.

• Squatter (noun): a person who settles on land or occupies property without title, right, or payment of rent.
• Trespasser (noun): a person who has wrongful entry upon the lands of another.

If a person is living in a house without consent from the owner of the property, then their status of squatters and trespassers is determined by how they obtained access to the property in the first place. If the person used force to gain entry to the home, then they committed trespassing and if they were allowed into a property and stayed longer than allowed without permission, they are now a squatter.

The best thing to do in any situation when it comes to this is finds ways to prevent it from happening. You should check out our other article explaining how to reduce your risks with a vacant property.

This is a common situation

Let’s say you live in Florida and you have a old rental property in Denver. The best you’ve been doing is hiring a property preservation company to maintain it while it’s vacant. Time flies and your busy! What about if you end up finding out some people just found a new place to “kick it” for a couple weeks, what do you do then?

Could you “evict” or kick them out right away? Every city is different. Squatters may be able to claim residency if they turned on utilities at that address in their name, maybe at the assumption of the utility company thinking they are just “tenants”. Opening a court case is the start in getting the squatters out. There is no guaranteed timeline on how long this could take being a civil case and it’s one of the hardest things to overcome when faced with this situation most landlord’s don’t think about before leaving a property vacant.

Things to take action on

Try to avoid a squatter situation from happening. If you plan to leave your property vacant, make sure that it’s secure. You or a property management company should also check on the place regularly. If you already have a squatter, here’s what you could do:

• Contact Local Law Enforcement
  Call the police immediately if you discover a squatter. The courts will think you gave this person consent to be there the longer you wait. The police could declare this a civil matter and won’t remove the squatter, start the eviction process. You’ll need to pay for a sheriff to get the squatter(s) out if they are still sticking around after you’ve won a lawsuit.
• Give Notice With A Forcible Entry & Detainer/Eviction
  Once you serve the squatter with a notice, you could get lucky, and the squatter might leave. If not, you’ll need to file the formal way to evict. Make sure you follow the Colorado state law.
• Do Everything In A Legal Manner
  Many times in situations like this, emotions overwhelm us and we don’t think things through. You may ignore the problem or even worse try and do everything alone just to be done with it. It’s going to take time, effort and the right resources. Even after it’s over, you still have to make sure you legally take care of any personal property the squatters may have left behind.

Final thoughts

You’ll probably end up being fined more than it would have cost you to go through a proper eviction if you force your tenant to vacate without due process in Colorado. No matter how the squatter has disrespected you, laughed in your face or even threatened you themselves.

Evicting squatters in Denver, Colorado is no easy task. The resources, time and money it takes to pull it off is unbearable for more homeowners. You can always sell your property to Adam Buys Houses! We are able to make you an all cash offer on your property and have dealt with evicting squatters and bad tenants that have no right living in the property.  This is often an overlooked solution to a problem such as this.

Give us a call at 303-997-2045 or simply fill out the form by clicking the link here to get started.

Disclaimer: This blog is for educational purposely only. Please seek legal counsel before making any decisions on your situation.