Why Buy When You Can Squat?

Photo courtesy of Sandor Csudai from knum.org

1,203 words

Things are bad when shady characters move into your wealthy neighborhood, right into your house, set up shop, and then throw enormous parties for all the other peripatetic migrant-squatters passing through. This is what is happening in the United States and the rest of the Western world, which are in danger of becoming one vast squatter camp spanning entire continents: rubble and concrete amidst which dark people shuffle like zombies through the wasteland in search of their next opioid score.

The situation must be serious if even basketball player LeBron James is complaining about it. According to a piece in Newsweek, James became concerned when squatters occupied a mansion in his posh neighborhood. After purchasing Katherin Hepburn’s opulent $36.8 million mansion just adjacent to Beverly Hills, James promptly decided to knock it down and rebuild it anew. But just as James’ newly-constructed palace was ready for his lordship’s arrival, squatters had the temerity to sully his neighborhood. A group of layabouts apparently decided to take up residence in a nearby, albeit smaller, mansion and claim it for their own.

Even though I do not like James very much, he is right to be perplexed. The $4.3 million property nearby was taken over by a sophisticated ring of criminal squatters. They have made a significant profit since they occupied the house and have been charging rent and throwing all-night rave parties. In a group chat, concerned neighbors sent videos of their raucous nocturnal shindigs that include rave lights, a constant stream of vehicles coming and going, and drug-addled guests.

Similar scenarios are playing out all over the United States — so much so that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis decided to take a stand. On March 27, 2024, DeSantis signed HB 621, legislation that aims to protect property rights, provide homeowners remedies for squatting, and that calls for increased penalties against squatters. “We are putting an end to the squatters scam in Florida,” DeSantis said. “While other states are siding with the squatters, we are protecting property owners and punishing criminals looking to game the system.”

The HB 621 Property Rights bill is encouraging and should be emulated by as many jurisdictions as possible. Here is its official description:

Authorizes property owners or authorized agents to request assistance from sheriff for immediately removing unauthorized occupants from residential dwelling under certain conditions; requires specified complaint; provides requirements for sheriff; authorizes arrest of unauthorized occupant; provides that sheriff is not liable to any party for loss, destruction, or damage; provides that property owner or agent is not liable to any party for loss or destruction of, or damage to, personal property unless it was wrongfully removed; prohibits unlawfully detaining, or occupying or trespassing upon, residential dwelling intentionally & causing at least specified amount of damage; provides criminal penalties for any person who knowingly & willfully presents false document purporting to be valid lease agreement, deed, or other instrument conveying real property rights; prohibits listing or advertising for sale, or renting or leasing, residential real property.

You can buy J. A. Nicholl’s short story collection Venus and Her Thugs here.

New York State stands in sharp contrast to this view. New York City has become a hotbed not only of violent criminal migrants, but aggressive squatters. As mentioned in a previous article, no less a person than Lady Gaga’s father was appalled at the clandestine infiltration of New York City by migrants, who having cunningly learned to exploit New York’s lax squatting rules.

Earlier this month, a group of eight migrants, including a child, were found squatting in an apartment building in the Bronx. After a concerned neighbor saw one of them brandishing a gun, police were called, and after a foot chase, officers apprehended Hector Desousa-Villalta, 24, of Venezuela. Another Venezuelan national was seen sneaking out of the property while carrying a gun; he was arrested as well. During a search of the premises, police found ketamine, cocaine, and firearms. The group now faces both drug and weapons charges. Desousa-Villalta had been previously arrested for attempted murder, but was released.

In a story about squatters that was published by Revolver, which draws on reports from across the United States, one Brooklyn homeowner was appalled by the fact that the lax laws made it easy for squatters to not only live in his property, but evict him! To add insult to injury, they ended up burning the place down. It was perhaps in the glow of that conflagration that our homeowner had a revelation: It’s time to move.

But trouble with squatters isn’t limited to New York City. In Houston, Texas, a woman was locked out of her house by a squatter who claimed to have signed a lease for the property. It turns out the interloper had been kicked out of three other homes she had unsuccessfully tried to seize as a squatter. Similarly, in Maryland a woman returned from holiday to find two squatters in her bed. While she was away, they not only moved in but sold $50,000 worth of her furniture. Meanwhile, on Long Island, New York, one Guramrit Hanspal has not paid his mortgage in 25 years — but continues to live in the home, as the company that seized the property has had difficulty evicting him.

Across the pond, trouble is brewing in England as a group of squatters has occupied world-famous chef Gordon Ramsay’s posh central London restaurant. The group claims that they want to transform the building into an art café. A notice taped to the outside of the building was signed by “The Occupiers,” advising passersby that there would always be always at least one person inside the building while the occupation was ongoing, and that in order to have them evicted, the owners would have to go to the county court or even the High Court. Rather than remove them, the police stated that it is a civic matter that is not in their purview. Ramsay has since served papers to the squatters in an attempt to remove them from the premises.

In June 2023, a British man travelled to Spain in order to evict squatters who took up residence in a vacation home that he owns. After being confronted, the enraged derelicts broke a bottle over his head and slashed him repeatedly. A pixelated photo of the owner shows that he was left in a terrible state, bleeding from numerous cuts.

Maybe all of this is merely a coincidence. Perhaps there is no underlying rationale behind all this permissiveness and laxity on the part of the authorities. Are they casting a blind eye toward these occupiers because they are lazy? It could be, but I feel something far more insidious is at work. The reason for this ongoing invasion of individuals’ private property could be that it is yet another way to cause chaos in the daily lives of the West’s populace, especially white people.

It is obvious that the majority of non-whites who are present in our countries are squatters. They do not belong here. They are living in a country that they are not connected to in any way. The parasitic relationship that non-whites have with their host country is all there is. We have to recognize them as foreign agents whose only purpose is to displace us and to keep our hostile overlords in power.