Squatting
“That’s weird,” Brenda laughs. Why would someone put flowers in the window but leave the lights off? Does someone actually live in that abandoned house? And, she wonders, is it really true? Did someone down in Florida figure out how to live in a foreclosed house legally?
As houses are foreclosed on and forgotten, and people struggle with homelessness, these are the types of questions that people all across the United States are asking in regards to their own neighborhoods.
In truth, squatting (settling on land without legal permission) has been around for a long time—so long, in fact, that laws all over the world protect the rights of squatters, though these protections are withering. Today, 1 out of 10 people on the planet is a squatter. From Rio de Janeiro, to Rhode Island, to Florida, people are making homes in vacant spaces.
As houses are foreclosed on and forgotten, and people struggle with homelessness, these are the types of questions that people all across the United States are asking in regards to their own neighborhoods.
In truth, squatting (settling on land without legal permission) has been around for a long time—so long, in fact, that laws all over the world protect the rights of squatters, though these protections are withering. Today, 1 out of 10 people on the planet is a squatter. From Rio de Janeiro, to Rhode Island, to Florida, people are making homes in vacant spaces.
So, who are these squatters in Florida that Brenda heard about? Most likely, she’s thinking of Miami’s Take Back the Land.
Responding to a lack of affordable housing in Miami, a deteriorating public housing system, and the deep humiliation of living in homeless shelters, Take Back the Land got its start building Umoja Village, a shantytown in a deserted lot. Fifty people without houses lived here for over three months.
But Brenda was not the only person who heard about Take Back the Land's success in Miami. The
movement spread to Rochester, NY, Chicago, Boston, Minneapolis and Atlanta where home occupations were successful. They worked with the housing justice alliance Right to the City and helped to inspire and train Occupy Our Homes, one of the most powerful groups to come out of the 2010 Occupy Movement.
Since the foreclosure crisis and calls for abandoned property to serve a social purpose, states have been quickly challenging adverse possession laws—claiming that they are no longer relevant.
What do you think? If had to choose between a homeless shelter, the street, or a vacant house, where would you want to make a home?
By the time the foreclosure crisis hit, Take Back the Land was organized and poised to jump in to help impacted families, moving them into abandoned spaces and houses. Between 2007 and 2009, Take Back the Land successfully moved 20 families into abandoned properties.
movement spread to Rochester, NY, Chicago, Boston, Minneapolis and Atlanta where home occupations were successful. They worked with the housing justice alliance Right to the City and helped to inspire and train Occupy Our Homes, one of the most powerful groups to come out of the 2010 Occupy Movement.
Since the foreclosure crisis and calls for abandoned property to serve a social purpose, states have been quickly challenging adverse possession laws—claiming that they are no longer relevant.
What do you think? If had to choose between a homeless shelter, the street, or a vacant house, where would you want to make a home?
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