NY pols take aim at squatters with crystal clear laws favoring homeowners after series of takeovers

New York lawmakers are pushing a flurry of bills on squatters, declaring enough is enough after a series of disturbing home takeovers in the Big Apple and elsewhere.“There have unfortunately been several instances of squatters attempting to — or even succeeding — in taking over private homes,” Democrat Sen.John Liu told The Post Wednesday, crediting The Post and others for shining a light on some of the harrowing squatter incidents.“It’s been captured quite vividly by the media, including this publication, that has brought to our attention a problem that needed to be addressed.”Liu introduced Senate Bill 8996 on April 8 along with Assemblyman Ron Kim, a Democrat, which was sponsored by more than half a dozen Senate lawmakers.

The bill came amid a wave of alarming incidents where homeowners were pushed out of their own homes after squatters had staked their claims.Less than two weeks later, language from Liu’s bill was included in the $237 billion budget agreement which was signed into law over the weekend by Gov.Kathy Hochul.Liu said the new legislation was “simple and crystal clear.”Squatters are not tenants, squatters are people who intrude on private property without authorization from the owners, their representatives, or tenants,” the senator said.Liu says the amendments to the existing law were intended to augment the “fuzzy” language around squatters rights as it had been previously written.Squatters had been able to claim tenants’ rights after just 30 days of occupancy under New York City law.

“There was some presumption, perhaps mistaken, that after 30 days squatters somehow get rights as tenants.They don’t have any rights under state housing laws.”Liu said the new legislation “gets the ball rolling straighter and faster” to addressing the problem through new legal avenues.“This was a measure that we could take immediately and urgently, which we did.

But we’ll continue to look for stronger protections for homeown...