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Comment by ericbarrett | Hacker News Reader

I’m not sure why you are being downvoted. This is absolutely the case. Big-time property owners like Blackrock don’t care so much; they have the time and money and thousands of other assets to use the legal system for eviction. Small-time landlords (think somebody who bought a few properties to retire on the income) incur heavy, lifestyle-altering losses.

The BBC article focuses heavily on a family that was fraudulently leased an apartment, which is a very sympathetic case; the criminals are unnamed, faceless grifters. But it is far more common that squatters are fully aware of what they are doing, and exploiting the slow pace of the legal system in whichever jurisdiction to get away with it.

And yes, this happens in the U.S. too.

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Likely people think it's not possible. Until you experience it firsthand, you'd think what I was saying was an exaggeration but it's not at all. I wish I was making it up!

> I’m not sure why you are being downvoted.

Well, they're equating all squatters with meth manufacturers.

I don’t see that anywhere in the post to which I replied; they were telling a story about something that happened to a family member. I think you are being hyperbolic.

Look, it’s rough out there, but if it continues to be hard for the small-time owners—squatters are just one facet here—the only landlords left will be megacorps with 43-page contracts[0]. This will cripple one of the best paths for people from humble origins to build wealth.

If you are some form of anarchist and don’t believe this is a good cause, well, we have nothing to discuss. But if you understand that there’s no way property rights are going away in the West, and you think the common person should share in them, the zeitgeist should concern you.

[0] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/04/magazine/wall-street-land...

> I don’t see that anywhere in the post to which I replied

Try again.

They said "Squatters are absolute scum of the earth", and proceeded to prove that with an anecdote specifically about meth [manufacturing] destroying a house.

> Try again.

Why so rude?

You unfairly called me hyperbolic.

Try re-reading it. I didn't say anything about meth manufacturing, although it wouldn't surprise me.

Actually, that is a big part of the rent problem in Spain. Getting rid of squatters is hard enough, but getting rid of a tenant that stops paying takes even more time and effort. And you are still legally bind to pay for utilities, even though you are not getting any money. So people prefer to have an empty house than to rent it to a person they are not sure will be a reliable payer.

And if they decide to rent, that includes demanding the tenant has a stable job, running debt checks on them and asking for several months rent in advance, which makes more difficult to rent for people with low wages.

It starts with a general statement that 'squatters are the scum of the earth' and then uses the specific examples of some individual meth-head squatters to support that claim. The casual reader is likely to take away an inference that all squatters are somewhat similarly bad.

All squatting is scummy behavior.

Only your own point of view is valid, I see.

Tautologically so

No I didn't, I called these squatters meth heads--they were meth users. They ripped the copper out of the walls and sold it for scrap and defecated in the tub until it overflowed. These were subhumans.

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