Amid California's growing squatter problem, a group of citizens decided to address this crisis by launching an innovative business that allows them to hire specialized professionals to evict squatters from properties.
In California, as well as in other states in the country, the squatter problem has been on the rise, especially after measures taken during the coronavirus pandemic, which gave tenants more flexibility in case they could not meet their monthly payments.
With this problem in mind, several citizens joined forces to create Squatter Squad, a company that presents itself as an option for landlords to recover their properties quickly.
Lando Thomas, one of the partners behind this initiative, recently shared in an interview with Newsweek that more and more homeowners feel powerless in the face of the authorities' lack of response to evict squatters.
"Because squatting seems to be on the rise, the courts are backed up from months to years, police can't or won't help, property owners feel helpless and are told taking the squatters to court is the only path to getting their property back," he explained.
Thomas added that the situation becomes even more alarming for both property owners and neighbors when considering the criminal activities that often accompany squatting.
However, he notes that after several years, Squatter Squad has found a way to address these problems within California's legal framework and help thousands of real estate investors who are losing their primary sources of income to squatting.
What does Squatter Squad offer?
According to the company's website information, Squatter Squad offers "fast and effective squatter removal and prevention services throughout Southern California."
The company claims to have a four-step legal process that allows it to achieve its goals over a week or a little longer, depending on the case.
"The secret to success with being effective with squatters is knowing how to "handle them" (in a very specific way), while at the same time understanding what you can and cannot get do[ne] when it comes to California law," Squatter Squad says.
In addition to removing squatters, the company offers a counseling service that can help determine whether a landlord's case requires a formal eviction process.
Squatter Squad also shares that it works with residential, commercial, land, apartment and Airbnb properties.
Squatter Squad's pricing
In most cases, the company handles costs between $5,000 and $10,000, a fee that, while it might seem expensive, can actually represent significant savings in homeowners' lives, Thomas said. He added that property owners often lose as much as $100,000 by having an intruder on the property.
