‘Damage is done’ as Squatters coach others
Squatting trend at tipping point as migrants coach others how to exploit laws; experts warn, ‘Damage is done’
Fox News • April 4, 2024
Squatting laws have become a frequent target of exploitation by savvy criminals who fraudulently move into vacant homes across the nation. Experts warn that the problem could be compounded by the ongoing immigration crisis, with migrants catching wind of the laws and taking advantage of them.
“I have thought about invading a house in the United States,” migrant Leonel Moreno said in Spanish in a TikTok video that went viral last month. “I found out that there is a law that says that if a house is not inhabited, we can seize it.”
Moreno, dubbed the “migrant influencer,” is a Venezuelan national who was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement last week after bolting from a border patrol program. He is being detained in Ohio.
But prior to his capture, he managed to draw a million followers on TikTok and claimed he was pulling in $1,000 a day as an influencer on the app on top of receiving $350 a month in government handouts.
His TikTok account is now inactive, but his messages urging fellow migrants to take over homes continue circulating online.
Squatter laws vary from state to state and even city to city. New York City has some of the most lenient laws toward squatters, allowing people to claim squatters’ rights after living on a property just 30 days. Under New York state law, people can claim squatters’ rights after living on a property for at least 10 years.
The Big Apple’s law has had monumental consequences for a handful of New Yorkers in the last few weeks alone, with one Queens homeowner put in handcuffs last month after trying to force alleged squatters from her home, Fox News Digital previously reported.
Another woman was allegedly killed by squatters last month in her mother’s New York City apartment. Another pair of squatters were found fraudulently living in an abandoned home on Long Island earlier this year after forging the dead owner’s name on a lease.
‘The damage is already done’
Fox News Digital spoke with Republican New York state Sen Mario Mattera, who introduced a bill package last month that would allow police to immediately remove suspected squatters based on a homeowner’s sworn complaint. He warned that the migrant crisis would fan the flames of squatting trends, pointing to Moreno’s viral TikTok as proof the “damage is already done.”
“Look at what just happened with the illegal migrant going on TikTok … and saying to everybody, ‘This is what you need to do. You could go do this. Go find vacant homes. Go do what you could do.’ … Yes, he got arrested, but the damage is done already,” Mattera said.
Mattera pinned blame on Gov Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Eric Adams for not rescinding sanctuary city and state policies in their respective jurisdictions, saying the Democratic leaders have “enabled” migrants.
“The [migrants] don’t want to go to work. They’re like, ‘You brought me here. Now you take care of me.’ The governor and the mayor could have signed an executive order … rescinding the sanctuary state and the sanctuary city [policies]. Please, all New Yorkers understand that, and call the governor, call the mayor of New York, and ask them: What are you doing to fix this disaster that they both created?” he said.
Last week, the NYPD busted eight migrant squatters who allegedly took over a Bronx property, and they found guns and drugs. The New York Post reported six of the eight migrant squatters had been released without bail.
A tipping point
At least 7.2 million illegal migrants have entered the US since President Biden took office in 2021, which is more than the population of 36 individual states.
Earlier this month in New York, a woman returned to a property she inherited to find squatters living there. She changed the locks to get them out, and the state of New York arrested her instead of the squatters.
“Every day we are hearing of stories of homeowners in states across the country who have been victim to this nationwide crisis. We are grateful for our legislative partners in the General Assembly who have kept this issue front of mind and have passed legislation designed to tackle this issue head on,” Kemp spokesman Garrison Douglas told Fox Digital.
Retired Riverside, Illinois, Police Chief Tom Weitzel spoke to Fox News Digital last week, warning that squatters in the US are already very savvy and that migrants are and will likely be coached on how to pull off the same scam.
“Squatters know when a house is vacant or vacant for sale. They watch your house. A day before they ‘squat,’ they order an Amazon, UPS or other delivery package with their name and the property address of the home they are going to take over,” Weitzel said of the squatting trend.
“You then find out someone is in your house. You call the police. They show the package with their name and the property address and tell the police they rented the house, and the police now say it’s a civil matter. You now must file eviction paperwork.
“Six to 18 months is typical for the eviction process or you settle a ‘cash for keys’, usually $2,000 to $5,000 to get possession of your property back. Extortion. This must be addressed by Congress now.”
When discussing the viral TikTok video, Weitzel said it’s likely Moreno was coached on how to spread the information to fellow migrants on how to take over a home.
“I think he was coached on information online because it is complicated. In fact, it’s so complicated, that it’s different from state to state. It’s not a universal statute throughout the United States.
“So, I think he was coached. I think he had a platform, already had a large following on TikTok. So, he had a platform to be put out there,” Weitzel said, adding migrants looking to squat will “without a doubt” target cities and states with lax laws on squatting.
Weitzel has previously spoken to Fox News Digital about other crime trends in the US and how the immigration crisis is adding to the stats, including how migrants are “coached” on how to conduct shoplifting crimes in quiet, suburban malls miles away from cities such as Chicago.
“They don’t come over from Venezuela, for example, knowing the ins and outs of the federal statutes here in the United States. They’re being told, they’re being coached. They’re being told where to go look for, where to go research on Google or what phrases to use.
“And then they’re going out, and they’re executing it. And now they’re being encouraged to put it out on their social media platforms,” the retired police chief said.
Weitzel noted that police have their hands tied during squatting disputes and must follow state or city laws, even in situations such as the one in Queens where a legal homeowner was arrested after changing the locks on her property in a bid to keep squatters out.
Under New York law, it’s illegal to turn off any utilities or change the locks of a home where someone says they are a tenant.
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“And I will set My jealousy against thee, and they shall deal furiously with thee. They shall take away thy nose and thine ears, and thy remnant shall fall by the sword. They shall take thy sons and thy daughters, and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire” Ezekiel 23:24-25
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