“Can squatters be easily removed without going to court? What to do in cases of unauthorized occupants in a property in Indiana?”
#SquattersRights #PropertyLaw #EvictionProcess #IndianaLaws
**Background Situation:**
– Aunt passed away with a man living in her mother’s property without owner’s knowledge
– Man allowed to stay in exchange for property care, only watched occasionally
– Man moved out without notice, friends moved in and changed locks
– Friends refusing to leave without court order, not paying rent
**Legal Concerns:**
– Is this considered trespassing and vandalism?
– Do we need a court order for eviction in Indiana?
**Next Steps:**
– Gathering evidence of unlawful entry and occupation
– Contacting local law enforcement for advice and assistance
– Seeking legal counsel for proper eviction procedures in Indiana
By addressing these steps and seeking appropriate legal guidance, you can ensure a smoother resolution to unauthorized occupancy issues in the property.
They didn’t break in, but were granted access from the prior tenant and have established themselves there.
You’ll need to evict. You may be able to sue them for damages, though I imagine you may have a hard time recovering money from squatters.
I am sorry to hear of your family’s loss.
>He was allowed to stay there as long as he took care of the property
He was definitely a tenant, then. It sounds like you didn’t have a written lease or other agreement that defined an amount of rent, so you can’t evict him for non-payment.
>They have not paid rent and are now saying they won’t leave without a court order.
That’s about the size of it. Indiana doesn’t have a lot of tenant protections but the ordinary court ordered eviction process is one of them.
You don’t need to present him with a new lease offer and wait for him to reject it, or with an advance notice to increase the rent to account for all the residents, or require them to all sign an offered lease. The property owner can simply give a written notice to terminate the tenancy, then file an eviction action when they won’t leave. The eviction order will name the tenant, and “all residents known and unknown”.
In this kind of situation with sorta-squatters (in the plan language sense, not the legal sense) it is often better for the owner to hire an attorney to do the eviction for them. Attorneys who do this kind of work for landlords make fewer process and paperwork mistakes, and are harder to threaten or coerce or cajole than homeowners are.
As obnoxious as it may be. You may want to offer a cash for keys to get them out sooner than an eviction could. It might be cheaper than the costs associated with an eviction.
You need a lawyer and you’ll have to follow the eviction laws for your state. That means issuing the 30 day notice and the whole nine yards of the legal/court processes