Squatters' Rights Opposed by Majority of Americans

A majority of Americans believe squatters should not be given any rights over property they don't own, with many saying they should never have rights, no matter how long they live there, a new poll revealed.

Some 61 percent oppose the concept of squatters' rights in general, while 66 percent of people who believe a current law in New York is too lenient believe squatters should "never" be given rights, no matter how long they have inhabited a property, according to a survey conducted exclusively for Newsweek by Redfield & Wilton Strategies.

The results come following several high-profile clashes between squatters and homeowners, including in New York, which has among the most lenient squatting laws in the U.S. Last month, property owner Adele Andaloro, of Flushing, Queens, was arrested for changing the locks on a home she inherited from her parents, where she claimed squatters were living.

New York legislators are pushing for new laws cracking down on squatters, and President Joe Biden's administration said it's "critical that local governments take action" to address the issue of squatters across the country. But experts say there has not been a spike in squatting and have dismissed reports of a crisis as "fearmongering."

"Tightening laws that prohibit squatting and making it more efficient to end it through legal process makes logical sense to me," Geoffrey S. Corn, a professor of criminal law at Texas Tech University's School of Law, told Newsweek via email on Tuesday. "If the people want that, this is how democracy and lawmaking should work.

"But, I would hope state legislatures are very direct in emphasizing the legal limits to self help."

Corn said he is concerned about homeowners who may try to take the law into their own hands.

"There is a difference between creating a more efficient legal process for removing squatters and allowing the use of deadly force to do so," he said. "For me the bottom line is simple: life is always more valuable than property, even the life of a squatter or someone who trespasses. And so long as there is the opportunity to seek law enforcement intervention to address the unlawful presence it is near impossible for me to believe a claim of urgent necessity to employ deadly force is reasonable."

The latest poll, conducted on April 6 and 7, suggests Americans are demanding tougher squatting laws. Some 4,000 people were questioned for the survey, and respondents were eligible voters in the U.S. who had a range of ages, genders, ethnicities and education levels.

A total of 61 percent of those polled said they were against the concept of "squatters' rights," with 13 percent opposed, and 48 percent strongly opposed.

Just 18 percent of respondents supported the concept, with 8 percent strongly supporting the idea of squatters' rights and 10 percent merely supporting it. The remaining respondents neither supported nor opposed the concept (15 percent) or did not know what they thought about the issue (5 percent). The figures in the poll were rounded to the nearest full number so they do not always add up to exactly 100 percent.

The results were almost identical when people were asked how they felt about New York City's squatter rights, which can be claimed after just 30 days in a property. Once again, a total of just 18 percent agreed to some extent that was an appropriate time frame, while 61 percent disagreed that 30 days was a fair amount of time with which to obtain rights to a property not owned by the squatter.

The line taken by respondents became firmer when those who disagreed were subsequently asked how long the time frame should be before squatters should be allowed rights to the home. Some 66 percent replied "never."

Other time periods saw smaller levels of support, with 14 percent suggesting a year should elapse before rights were granted, while 7 percent suggested 5 years would be a fair amount of time. Other time periods saw support too, such as 10 years (3 percent) and 15 years (2 percent). The remaining percentage of respondents were unsure of what they believed was an appropriate amount of time.

Correction: 4/10/24, 7.49 a.m. ET: This article was updated with a correction to Adele Andaloro.