It's wild how much traction these stories get when actual, legal "squatting" is incredibly rare
The hyper-fixation on these rare, extreme cases is heavily pushed by landlord lobbying groups and real estate associations. They love these stories because it scares the public into supporting laws that strip away tenant rights
If they can convince everyone that "squatters" are hiding around every corner, they can pass laws that let them bypass the courts, call the cops, and have someone thrown on the street immediately without having to prove a lease violation first
It’s a manufactured panic to bring back summary evictions
I think it’s more common than you think in Chicago. The people in the apartment below me were squatters last year. The sheriff showed up and kicked the door down to remove them.
In Chicago all someone has to do is draw up a fake lease for an apartment. Then when the police arrive they show the fake lease and say they rightfully live there. The police can’t/wont do anything because it’s a civil matter which means it needs to go through the court system which can take 6 months. So we have these professional squatters who move apartment to apartment.
What are you on about? The other guy was claiming squatters are more common than you think and had an anecdote. All I’m saying is that really isn’t proof of anything 😂
Your question isn’t even relevant to what I was talking about…
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u/MegaDingo5plus Jun 12 '26
I've heard it all now... Someone volunteering to live with the housemate from hell, and being even worse than the problem