A serial squatter was recently convicted in Florida after it only took jurors 35 minutes to decide his fate following a new state law that was passed to crack down on crime.
Florida resident Olandis Hobbs, 37, was found guilty on Tuesday of using fake documents to take over a $700,000 condo near Panama City Beach and now faces prison time. He was charged with grand theft of more than $100,000 as well as fraudulent use of personal identification information. On top of those charges, he was convicted of unlawful filing of false documents against real property and forgery, according toThe Panama City News Herald.
"This defendant is a squatter on steroids," prosecutor Josh James said at Hobbs' conviction.
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A squatter is any individual who decides to inhabit a piece of land or building they have no legal right to occupy, according to the American Apartment Owners Association (AAOA). The squatter lives in the building or on the property they select without paying rent and without lawful documentation stating they own the property.
Hobbs was originally arrested on January 13, 2023. Since his arrest, Florida tightened its laws to protect property owners.
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Florida's House Bill 621 went into effect on July 1, making property theft a quicker process for police to enforce and also allows law enforcement to immediately remove a squatter from a property.
"We are putting an end to the squatters scam in Florida," Governor Ron DeSantis said in a statement after signing the legislation into law in March. "We are protecting property owners and punishing criminals looking to game the system."
Meanwhile, James also called Hobbs a "dangerous man" who had previously squatted in many other homes before taking on a new victim in Bay County.
"This conviction is more than a win for the victims," James said in a statement, as reported by The Panama City News Herald. "He committed similar acts in other places, like New York, and was sued but never arrested. That may be acceptable in other places, but when he did it in Bay County, he was arrested and held accountable."
In Florida, Hobbs victimized an 85-year-old woman and her children, and illegally stayed in her condo, changed the locks and told the condo management there was a new owner. During this time, the legal owners were forced to keep paying monthly homeowner association (HOA) charges and property taxes.
"His incarceration will protect all Bay County residents from falling victim to his cons and send a message to other like-minded fraudsters," James said in his statement. "If you come to Bay County and attempt to cheat our citizens out of their hard-earned property, you will be arrested, we will take you to trial and you will go to prison."
Ben Caballero, a broker, told Newsweek that "the reason the homeowner...was able to remove the squatter quickly was because Florida recently criminalized squatting and provided homeowners with a way to defend their property rights."
He added: "Other states have not acted as quickly but they are moving in that direction."
Caballero said in the states and cities that allow looser laws protecting homeowners or even increased protections for tenants, squatting will continue and will likely increase.
In New York, squatters previously gained tenant rights if they've been staying on a property for 30 days or more, and homeowners were then required to go through a court eviction to get rid of the criminal from their property.
Just recently, New York Governor Kathy Hochul passed a law to change the definition of "tenant" so it can't include squatters in hopes that this will make it easier to remove squatters from property.
"A criminal's' job is to find ways to unjustly enrich themselves and when they find a weakness in the law, word gets around to other criminals and the activity increases," Caballero said.
Nationwide title and escrow expert Alan Chang said forgery and fraud are also on the rise across the United States, with squatting being a popularized method to get out of paying rent.
"Vacant properties are especially vulnerable to squatters as there is less of an immediate challenge to the bad actor," Chang told Newsweek. "If you have vacant properties, it is important to monitor and visit the property on a frequent basis to reduce the possibility of squatters finding an unattended property."
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About the writer
Suzanne Blake is a Newsweek reporter based in New York. Her focus is reporting on consumer and social trends, spanning ... Read more
